innovation3

CCK09 September 14, 2009 Elluminate Session

2009-09-14T19:59:00.001-04:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=38770043a0" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;CCK09 September 14, 2009 Elluminate Session&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

New Blog at innovation3.edublogs.org

2008-07-12T07:18:00.003-04:00

I have moved my posts and comments to innovation3.edublogs.org. If it works out, I will remain there. If not, I will return to blogspot.

Dennis

The Peace Train is with Us: Web 2.0?

2008-07-02T05:45:00.002-04:00

On Sunday I was lying on sunny, warm, refreshing Grape Bay Beach, Bermuda listening to my MP3 player. My wife, daughter, her husband and their eighteen month old son Michael were with me. Some of you may remember the song I was listening to that, when I first heard it in 1971 caused a "gust of hope" to rise up in me. I still get that feeling today. It seems that hope springs eternal.

I Googled the song and discovered that it had been sung in 2006 at a concert to honor the "Banker to the Poor," Muhammad Yunus, who received 1/2 of the Nobel Peace Prize. The other half was shared with Grameen Bank. From the Nobel Prize site...

Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.
From Dr. Yunus' personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in more than 100 countries worldwide.

To learn more about Dr. Yunus, Grameen Bank, and other Nobel related resources, check out the Nobel video site.

The song I was listening to on the beach was Peace Train by Cat Stevens, who later changed his name to Yusuf Islam. Stevens said

Peace Train' is a song I wrote, the message of which continues to breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions. There is a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again. As a member of humanity and as a Muslim, this is my contribution....

Peace Train

Now I've been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun
I've been smiling lately
Dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be
Something good's bound to come

For out on the edge of darkness
There runs the peace train
Peace train take this country
Come take me home again

Peace train sounding louder
Ride on the peace train
Hoo-ah-eeh-ah-hoo-ah
Come on the peace train
Peace train's a holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
Hoo-ah-eeh-ah-hoo-ah
This is the peace train

Get your bags together
Come bring your good friends too
Because it's getting nearer
Soon it will be with you
Come and join the living
It's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer
Soon it will all be true

Peace train sounding louder
Ride on the peace train
Hoo-ah-eeh-ah-hoo-ah
Come on the peace train

I've been crying lately
Thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating?
Why can't we live in bliss?

For out on the edge of darkness
There rides the peace train
Peace train take this country
Come take me home again

Peace train sounding louder
Ride on the peace train
Hoo-ah-eeh-ah-hoo-ah
Come on the peace train

Come on, come on, come on the peace train...

"Give stuff away and see what happens!"

2008-07-01T06:07:00.011-04:00

Alan Levine, Cog Dog Blog, posted a lovely argument for sharing on the internet, Lovely Photo Devivatives.

...what is more interesting, uplifting, is the magic that happens when you give something away, when you don’t attach statements of what you cannot do with media you’ve created, but attach statements of what you can do.

He goes on to tell the story of friends, Jim and Susan, who used Alan's photos to develop artistic interests. He shared; they produced works of art derived from the photos. The pastels Susan created are beautiful and presented in the post for us to enjoy along with the original photos. It seems to me that no one lost out in that transaction. The bargaining involved is elemental, something fundamentally human. It represents the best of what we can offer to the planet, and our future as a planet can be secured if we can figure out how to mine this simple treasure.

Sharing is a CORE VALUE for Web 2.0. It caught my attention as I began my visits eleven months to the learning spaces, ubiquitous on the Internet. Web 2.0 with sharing is selfless; Web 2.0 without it is selfish, and, for me something less free and organic. I hope we can protect and preserve this quality forever. If you agree, then it's logical to ask what challenges that value and how do we counter it?

I think the biggest challenge to the three Web 2.0 C's (collaboration, cooperation, and creation) is contained in one's answer to the question I came across in the blogosphere:

How can I make a living in a Web 2.0 world? How do you answer the question and does your answer challenge or protect and preserve sharing?

I take a lot of pictures, but I have not yet developed the habit of uploading them to Flickr. Cog Dog's post has caused me to think I want to begin learning how to do that. That's sharing too. Thanks Cog Dog.

Four Double Six Six Four - 46664

2008-06-27T20:35:00.015-04:00

Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Celebration ~ London, UK

It's in Our Hands

A Number Worth Thinking About....

46664 Home
46664 Global Community

This post is dedicated to Sharon Peters who will be arriving in Cape Town, South Africa tomorrow beginning her mission of education in Africa.

46664 is an African response to the global HIV AIDS epidemic that invites the whole world to take the fight in hand. It's our aim to raise awareness overall and educate the younger generations in particular. By gaining global backing for the cause, we will also raise funds to directly assist the many HIV AIDS projects we support. We intend to do this by using our international ambassadors to spread our messages of hope, our calls to action, our pleas for compassion and our requests for assistance and support for those living with HIV AIDS.

46664 (we say four, double six, six four) was Nelson Mandela's prison number when he was imprisoned on Robben Island, off Cape Town in South Africa. He was jailed in 1964 for 27 years for leading the liberation movement against apartheid and for his impassioned stance on the rights of everyone to live in freedom. He was prisoner number 466, imprisoned in 1964. The Robben Island prisoners were never referred to by their names, but rather by their numbers and year of imprisonment - hence 46664 was Nelson Mandela's number.

This was very much the strategy of the apartheid regime, to reduce those people fighting for the right to freedom to nameless numbers.

It was for precisely this reason that Mr. Mandela decided to use this powerful, symbolic number in the fight against HIV AIDS. Through this simple, poignant means he has demonstrated and communicated to the world that people must never be reduced to simple numbers - we are human beings, all equal, and those infected and living with HIV AIDS have the same right to live and to be treated as equals.

This is how the number 46664 became the icon for promoting Nelson Mandela's global HIV AIDS awareness campaign.

For Children in Massachusetts Today is a New Day

2008-06-26T09:34:00.011-04:00

It has taken ten years of advocacy by colleagues throughout Massachusetts to achieve this reform package. I am proud of the role MASCD has played in shaping the agenda. Working together with hundreds of educators, business leaders, parents and politicians, we have come to a new day for children. The power to transform is with us; let us use it wisely. "It's about all the kids!"

(Note: Pay particular attention to Goal 4: Innovation and Systemic Reform to Create a 21st Century Public Education System) Technical Help Request: Please comment on how to anchor this to the goal 4 section below if you know how. Thanks

Below is a communication I received from a colleague of mine in Massachusetts. I am the President of the Massachusetts Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (MASCD) and Mary Forte Hayes is the Executive Director. Yesterday Mary was at the Kennedy Library when Governor Deval Patrick announced the next generation of education reform. The last major educational reform in Massachusetts was in 1993.

Dear Colleagues,

It was an exciting day today (June 25, 2008) at the Kennedy Library, a perfect setting for the launch of a visionary plan for education in the Commonwealth. I was there, as were many education and policy leaders and friends of MASCD. The Governor unveiled his vision for education, which is a call to completely redesign the system as we know it. He kept repeating “Today is a new day,” with good effect, and with the backdrop of the wall of windows onto the blue sky and water of Boston harbor framing the skyline. The Governor stressed many times, as did Secretary of Education-designate Paul Reville, that “all children” means ALL. Paul Reville recapped details of the 10 year plan that have been shared over the past 2 days. There are some very bold actions included. They are consistent with our priorities and well-aligned with the Whole Child compact. See summary below, which I have taken from the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE). Thanks to MBAE for the timely summary.

Mary Forte Hayes

Ready for 21st Century Success

The New Promise of Public Education

Acknowledging that our schools "must ensure that high school graduates know and are capable of much more than ever before", this report calls for transforming public schools over the next decade to meet the needs of current and future realities rather than perpetuate past practices that did not prepare all students for the demands of higher education and a technologically driven economy. With an unequivocal commitment to eliminating disadvantages based on socio-economic status, the proposed reform strategy focuses on four challenges:

International competition and an outdated curriculum

- Massachusetts must shift its focus from a 20th century approach to teaching to a modern curriculum that includes 21st century themes such as global and cultural competency, financial literacy, and other applied skills as well as strengthening content ranging from math, science, and world languages to social sciences and the arts.

A stubborn achievement gap - This can only be closed by acknowledging that children have different needs based on the advantages and obstacles they encounter outside of school. Public education must be coordinated with other social and health services so all children can meet high standards.

An education workforce crisis - Student achievement depends on teacher quality. The teaching profession has to be promoted as the critical and valuable vocation that it is in order to attract and retain outstanding candidates. The system for preparing, supporting and evaluating teachers must be comprehensively re-designed.

A century-old system - The system of standards and accountability instituted in 1993 has brought us far, but reaching the goal of bringing all students to proficiency requires a new, individualized approach. In an economy where the same skills are needed for college and for jobs at family-sustaining wages, it will take new, differentiated approaches to give all students what they need to succeed.

Read the Full Report

Four Goals of Action Agenda

Putting Children's Learning Needs First

For each goal, the Patrick Administration has identified what will be achieved in the short (by 2011), mid (by 2015), and long(by 2020) terms to reach the stated vision. Details can be found at: http://www.mass.gov/governor/education

Goal 1: Raising Student Achievement

Key short term goals include increased support for early childhood education; an inter-agency Child and Youth Readiness cabinet; a pilot drop out prevention and intervention program for urban districts; Student Support Coordinators to link services for students in low-income schools; and a statewide data system that will provide a "Readiness Passport" to document all education and social service experiences received by every child.

Goal 2: Teachers and Education Leaders - Supported and Effective Educators

By 2011, establish differentiated pay for high-need locations and disciplines; pilot intensive induction and mentoring for new teachers; establish Readiness Science and Math Teaching Fellowship to increase supply of teachers in these fields; accelerate development of "real time" assessment data to support instruction; strengthen MCAS requirement with complementary measures of student growth and 21st century skills; build state capacity to attract and retain a highly competent, culturally diverse teaching force. Mid- and long-term actions would strengthen teacher preparation in several different ways and provide support for continued improvement at all education levels.

Goal 3: College, Career and Life Success

In addition to integrating 21st century skills into all aspects of public education; needs based financial aid would be increased; offer community college opportunities to early childhood educators and income-eligible parents; provide accelerated graduation and early college opportunities; allow in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants; build a school-to-college web portal; offer college readiness assessments to high school juniors; and guarantee transfer credit among public colleges and universities. In the longer term, additional initiatives to increase work and college readiness will be implemented, in some cases focused on students with specific needs.

Goal 4: Innovation and Systemic Reform to Create a 21st Century Public Education System

The Readiness School concept which has received much press attention is part of this goal, which would also establish a Readiness Finance Commission to recommend cost savings and efficiencies, potential sources of revenue, and options for a complete overhaul of the state's education finance system. Other key features of this goal are expanding learning time both during out-of-school time and the summer; establishing a public-private Commonwealth Education Innovation Fund to foster innovation; expand student access to online learning; and provide other incentives and programs to use technology to improve teaching and learning.

Links to Subcommittee Reports and Video of Announcements
Above summary provided by MBAE, email of 6-25-08.

K12 Online Conference 08 Proposals: July 11, 2008 Deadline

2008-06-20T06:05:00.002-04:00

Republished Post from K12 Online Conference 2008

As requested: Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d really like people to do that )....

Second Call for Proposals

By dshareski ⋅ June 15, 2008

This is our second call for proposals for the third annual “K12 Online Conference” for educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. We’ve made two changes to the inital call so please take note.

This year’s conference is scheduled for October 20-24 and October 27-31 of 2008, and will include a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13. The conference theme for 2008 is “Amplifying Possibilities.” Participation in the conference (as in the past) is entirely free. Conference materials are published in English and available for worldwide distribution and use under a Creative Commons license. Some changes in the requirements for presentations are being made this year and are detailed below. The deadline for proposal submission has been extended to July 11, 2008.

Call for Proposal Submission Form

OVERVIEW:

As in past years, K12 Online 2008 will feature four “conference strands,” two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday through Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two weeks. Including the pre-conference keynote, a total of 41 presentations will be published. Each twenty minute (or less) presentation will be shared online in a downloadable format and released simultaneously via the conference blog (www.k12onlineconference.org,) the conference Twitter account, and the conference audio and video podcast channels. All presentations will be archived online for posterity. A total of 82 past presentations are currently available from K12 Online 2006 and K12 Online 2007. If you are planning to submit a proposal, please review archived presentations from past years to determine what you might offer that is new and builds on previous work. A variety of live events will also be planned during and following the weeks of the conference.

Please make note that we have moved the “Prove It” strand to Week 1 and the “Kicking it up a Notch” strand to Week 2.

FOUR STRANDS:

Week 1

Strand A: Prove it

Although some teachers are excited to “amplify possibilities” using computer technologies, Web 2.0 tools, and 21st Century learning strategies in their classrooms, how do we know if these innovative instructional strategies are really working? Since information technologies and emerging brain research continue to rapidly evolve and change, it is challenging as well as vital to find current, meaningful research to undergird the learning initiatives we are using in our classrooms. What are “best practices” for teaching and learning with the new participatory media? This strand will share research results from the field that support students in using knowledge to communicate, collaborate, analyze, create, innovate, build community and solve problems. In addition, successful methods for developing and/or delivery of action research projects or research-based instruction in today’s digital world will be explored. In some cases, participants may be invited to participate in ongoing or beginning research on Web 2.0 tool use, constructivist pedagogy, or other 21st Century research issues. Educational research about emerging professional development strategies, contemporary learning theory, systemic school reform, and other current themes of educational change are also appropriate for inclusion in this strand.

Help us to examine such research questions as:

o What does research in learning science, instructional design, informal learning, and other fields tell us about today’s learner and their success?

o What design features must teachers incorporate into their instructional activities to support meaningful learning?

o What is the role of assessment in today’s changing classroom? How should assessment be structured to meaningfully assess student achievement in the context of the modern classroom?

Strand B: Getting Started

Everything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask. The presentations in this strand will focus on specific, free tools for newcomers. Whether you have one classroom computer or a laptop for every student, digital technologies can provide new opportunities to connect with other learners, create new and exciting knowledge products, and engage students in an expanded learning process beyond the traditional “boundaries of the bell.” Teachers first introduced to Web 2.0 tools are often unaware of the new possibilities for teaching and learning afforded by the Read/Write Web. Presentations in this strand will amplify and model what is possible in terms of pedagogy, student creation of content, and collaboration. Practical classroom implementation ideas will be emphasized. Presentations will focus more on the ways new tools can be used to engage students in learning, rather than focusing exclusively on how specific tools are used. If you’ve ever felt like everyone else knows more than you about teaching with technology and you need help getting started, this is the strand for you.

Week 2

Strand B: Leading the Change

Innovative approaches to teaching and learning using web 2.0 tools are often utilized by a limited number of “early adopter” teachers in our schools. This strand seeks to amplify ways educators in a variety of contexts are serving as constructive catalysts for broad-based pedagogic change using Web 2.0 technologies as well as student-centered, project-based approaches to learning. Presentations in this strand will both showcase successful strategies as well as amplify critical issues which must be addressed for innovative learning methods to be adopted by teachers, librarians, and administrators on a more widespread basis. These issues may include (but are not limited to) issues of copyright, fair use and intellectual property, Internet content filtering, student privacy and safety issues, administrator expectations for teacher utilization of Web 2.0 tools, pilot initiatives utilizing key Web 2.0 technologies in different content areas, and innovative ways students and teachers are providing just-in-time support as well as formal learning opportunities for each other focusing on Web 2.0 tools. Successful approaches for both large and small schools, in rural as well as urban settings, will be included. This strand will explore and amplify a menu of practical ideas for educators in diverse contexts who want to continue amplifying possibilities in our schools.

Strand B: Kicking It Up a Notch

You’ve been using blogs, wikis and other technologies for awhile but perhaps haven’t seen them transform your classroom and the learning environment for your students in the ways you think they can. This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning. Rather than merely replicating traditional, analog-based learning tasks, how can digital technologies permit teacher-leaders to “infomate” learning to add greater interactivity, personal differentiation, and multi-modal exploration of curriculum topics? Fresh new approaches to using Web 2.0 tools for learning and authentic assessment will be highlighted. Presentations will explore innovative ways Web 2.0 tools can be blended together to help students create, collaborate, and share the knowledge safely on the global stage of the Internet. Maybe it’s time to share your insights and experiences with your teaching community. Join these sessions to gain insights on amplifying the possibilities of learning in your classroom and/or your professional practice.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

This call encourages all educators, both experienced and novice with respect to Web 2.0 learning tools, to submit proposals to present at this conference via this link. Take this opportunity to share your successes, strategies, and tips in “amplifying the possibilities” of web 2.0 powered learning in one of the four conference strands.

The deadline for proposal submissions is June 23, 2008 at midnight GMT. You will be contacted no later than July 2, 2008 regarding your proposal’s status. The conveners reserve to right to reposition a presentation in another strand if they believe it is best placed elsewhere. As in past years, conveners will utilize blind review committees to evaluate all submissions.

Presentations for K12Online08 must conform to the following requirements:

Presentations must be a single media file of twenty minutes or less in length.
Presentations must be submitted in a downloadable and convertable file format (mp3, mov, WMV, FLV, m4a, or m4v.) Presenters wanting to use an alternative format should contact their respective strand convener in advance.
Presentations are due two weeks prior to the week the relevant strand begins. (Week 1 presentations are due Monday, October 6, Week 2 presentations are due Monday, October 13.)
Presentations must be submitted only one time and on time. Early submissions are welcomed! Repeat submissions (with changes and additional edits) will not be accepted. Presenters should proof carefully before submitting!
All presentations will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

The following are optional but encouraged presentation elements:

Prior to September 13th, presenters are invited to submit a “teaser” (maximum video or audio file length: 3 minutes) about their presentation. This can be any type of online artifact and does not have to be downloadable. Examples may include videos, animations, posters, audio interviews, etc.

- In addition to marketing the presentation, teasers can be designed to encourage and solicit community input related to the presentation topic in advance of the presentation submission deadline.
- View teaser examples from 2007 at http://k12online07.wikispaces.com/Teasers

Supplementary materials supporting presentations are welcomed. These can be wikis with supporting material links, linked examples of student projects, school district exemplary initiatives, social bookmarking collections, and/or other related content.
Follow-up projects and/or live interaction opportunities for conference presentations which further amplify the possibilities of the presentation topic may be included. (This can include sharing and building of content prior to, during and after the conference.)

As you draft your proposal, you may wish to consider the presentation topics listed below which were suggested in the comments on the K-12 Online Conference Blog:

Special needs education

Creative Commons, Intellectual Property, Copyright and Fair Use

Student voices

Community involvement

Games in education

Specific ideas, tips, mini lessons centered on pedagogical use of web 2.0 tools

Overcoming institutional inertia and resistance

Aligning Web 2.0 and other projects to national standards

Getting your message across

How Web 2.0 can assist those with disabilities

ePortfolios

Classroom 2.0 activities at the elementary level

Teacher/peer collaboration

Authentic assessment

Overcoming content filtering issues

Navigating “open web” versus “closed web” publishing of student work

Prospective presenters are reminded that the audience of the K12 Online Conference is global in nature and diverse in their educational context. For this reason presentations and presentation materials which address issues from a variety of perspectives are welcomed.

EVALUATION

Acceptance decisions will be made based on RELEVANCE, SIGNIFICANCE, ORIGINALITY, QUALITY, and CLARITY. Borrowing from the COSL 2008 call for proposals:

A submission is RELEVANT when

- it directly addresses the conference and strand themes

A submission is SIGNIFICANT when

- it raises and discusses issues important to improving the effectiveness and/or sustainability of 21st Century teaching and learning efforts, and

- its contents can be broadly (globally) disseminated and understood

A submission is ORIGINAL when

- it addresses a new problem or one that hasn’t been studied in depth,

- it has a novel combination of existing research results which promise new insights, and / or

- it provides a perspective on problems different from those explored before

A submission is of HIGH QUALITY when

- existing literature is drawn upon, and / or

- claims are supported by sufficient data, and / or

- an appropriate methodology is selected and properly implemented, and / or

- limitations are described honestly

A submission is CLEARLY WRITTEN when

- it is organized effectively, and / or

- the English is clear and unambiguous, and / or

- it follows standard conventions of punctuation, mechanics, and citation, and / or

- the readability is good

NB: All proposals will be vetted by blind peer review committees. All decisions made by the blind peer review committees are final.

KEYNOTES:

The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who is distinguished and knowledgeable in the context of their strand. Watch for our announcement of Keynote presenters in the next few days.

CONVENERS:

- Dean Shareski is a Digital Learning Consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dean is an advocate for the use of social media in the classroom. To that end he works with teachers and students in exploring ways to make learning relevant, authentic and engaging. He also is a part time sessional lecturer for the University of Regina. He is celebrating his 20th year as an educator. Dean blogs at (http://ideasandthoughts.org). Dean will convene Kicking It Up A Notch.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions about any part of this call for proposals, please contact one of us:

Darren Kuropatwa: dkuropatwa {at} gmail {dot} com

Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach: snbeach {at} cox {dot} net

Dean Shareski: shareski{at} gmail{dot} com

Wesley Fryer: wesfryer {at} pobox {dot} com

Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d really like people to do that ) or link back to this post (published simultaneously on all our blogs).

Conference Tag: k12online08

What's your mission?

2008-06-12T06:08:00.009-04:00

~~~~ I turned this photo I took at a presentation by Rick DuFour on Professional Learning Communities into this poster using Motivator, a web tool I learned about from Doug Johnson at The Blue Skunk Blog.

Here's Doug's post/poster where he introduced me to Motivator: Motivational Text ~ Seriously, would you quit drinking?

Apple's iPhone 3G Introduced: Apple & Microsoft Face Off & You Compare

2008-06-11T21:28:00.019-04:00

WWDC 2008 Keynote Address

Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveil iPhone 3G, the App Store, MobileMe, and more in his Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address from San Francisco's Moscone West. See the video-on-demand (VOD) event at this website, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.

Microsoft's History and Future in 3:40 Minutes

Scholastic’s “2008 Kids & Family Reading Report- Reading in the 21st Century: Turning the Page with Technology"

2008-06-11T20:39:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Wesley Fryer's post, Online kids are readers!, I learned about Scholastic's reading report and about www.readthewords.com, a free website that allows me to upload a document that Read the Words then processes and reads back to me. I can turn it into an mp3 file or podcast that I can then post to my blog, wiki or website and sit back while the report is read to me in a voice I select. Enjoy this demo; you can download the PDF file of the report from the innovation3 box in the left column, courtesy of www.box.net.

Pygmalion: What 21st Century Literacies Does John Need to Learn?

2008-06-10T05:47:00.004-04:00

Clarence Fisher at Remote Access posted some interesting data for his students blogging and commenting habits. One question I have: Is their a correlation between attainment of 21st Century Literacies and your data?

In other words: Do students who evidence attainment of 21 Century Literacies blog and comment more, and students who blog and comment less do not evidence attainment of 21st Century Literacies. I suspect that if the potential of tapping the richness of collective intelligence to help us invent a more creative, collaborative, contributory future is dependent on students developing 21st Century Literacies, then I'd conclude that understanding and monitoring student attainment of these literacies is something we have to research.

As I work to introduce my 15 year old grandson John to Web 2.0, I am thinking about these issues. What the syllabus for our web 2.0 instruction? for students? for teachers? for administrators? for parents? for school board members? for the public at large?

Can we as a society take the risk of not teaching 21st Century Literacies? What are the personal, social, planetary benefits of everyone attaining 21st Century Literacies? We speak too much of consequences. What are the benefits to our students if they acquire 21st Century Literacies?

When I thing of 21st Century Literacies, several sources come to mind. I think the juries still out on this issue.

Adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee
February 15, 2008

Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to

1. Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
2. Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
3. Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
4. Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
5. Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
6. Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

Or iste NETS

“What students should know and be able to do to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital world …”

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

Or Will Richardson's

The new world of learning is requires us to teach students to be independent learners, ones that are not dependent on teachers but are:

* Self-directing--we now have the ability to create our own, personal curriculum around the ideas or topics that we are most passionate about. We no longer require curriculum to be delivered to us. We need to help our students find their passions and pursue them in the context of online networks in ethical, effective, organized and safe ways. And finding a balance between the online and offline life is also a "literacy" in this age. There are so many ways to communicate these days (blogs, wikis, IM, text, etc.) that it's easy to get overwhelmed.
* Self-selecting--in this world, learning spaces are created, not provided. And teachers are not assigned, they are selected. The creation and nurturing of these highly collaborative spaces and communities is a new "literacy" that we need to help our students develop. How do we find the best teachers? How do we connect to them? How to we build communities with others that are supportive and effective?
* Self-editing--whereas most of us were educated in a world where the materials we worked with had been edited by someone else along the way, in today's world, less and less of what we read is now "edited" in the traditional sense. So, reading and writing is no longer enough; we need to develop people who are effective editors of information as well.
* Self-organizing--the Dewey Decimal system doesn't serve the online world well, so we have to organize our own stuff. To do that, we use tags and social bookmarking systems, building folksonomies where we organize the Web together.
* Self-reflecting--as we become more and more in charge of our own learning, we need to develop the ability to reflect upon and assess our own work. This "metacognitive" work can involve a number of different genres and tools.
* Self-publishing--our students will need to be literate at sharing out the work they produce because that increases the connections and conversations that can lead to further learning. Blogs, wikis, podcasts and video are among the publishing skills they will need to have.

Or the New Media Literacies Project.

From the Executive Summary - Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century

The new skills include:

* Play— the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem solving
* Performance— the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery
* Simulation— the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes
* Appropriation— the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content
* Multitasking— the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.
* Distributed Cognition— the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities
* Collective Intelligence— the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal
* Judgment— the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources
* Transmedia Navigation— the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities
* Networking— the ability to search for synthesize, and disseminate information
* Negotiation— the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.

Fostering such social skills and cultural competencies requires a more systemic approach to media education in the United States. Everyone involved in preparing young people to go out into the world has contributions to make in helping students acquire the skills they need to become full participants in our society. Schools, afterschool programs, and parents have distinctive roles to play as they do what they can in their own spaces to encourage and nurture these skills.

New Media Literacies Project

Kenyan Strife 2007-08

2008-05-27T12:29:00.004-04:00

In this VoiceThread we listen to the story of a woman and her son's visit and eventual escape from Kenya. It is a good illustration of the potential power of this Web 2.0 tool.

Three-Year-Old Rachael's Haircut VoiceThread

2008-05-27T11:11:00.008-04:00

Wes Fryer and family share this VoiceThread with us. Rachael's trip to get her hair cut short was an opportunity for the family to create a Web 2.0 artifact for family and friends. Feel free to add your comments so Rachael can know you enjoyed her story. With help from dad's pictures, Rachael presents a really complete story of a trip to the stylist.

We Are What We Share or Web 2.0 Educator Community Proposal

2008-05-01T22:06:00.009-04:00

In March I had an idea. Actually, the idea has been percolating since July, but it began to take its current shape in March at the national convention for ASCD in New Orleans, 2008. A great experience, but it lacked something. Technology was not represented by the latest thinking in the education profession. So I decided to do something about it.

Valerie Truesdale, ASCD president mentioned to me that the 2009 annual conference in Orlando was "Learning Beyond Boundaries." I created a wiki and invited my online colleagues to work with me to submit a collaborative proposal to ASCD. Many people showed interest and several contributed to the wiki. I used the content that people contributed to develop...

A Proposal for Collaboration between ASCD and the Web 2.0 Educator Community for ASCD’s 2009 Annual Conference: Learning Beyond Boundaries

The proposal is worth reading, but the process we went through is just as interesting.

First there were the "tweets" that went out through Twitter.com inviting those in my online Network to the conversation. You can read the conversation that started it all here. Then I created a page for drafting the proposal which you can see here. Finally, this week we finished the proposal and you can see that here.

I want to thank all who joined the Learning Beyond Boundaries wiki and others who visited and expressed interest and support for the effort. Earlier tonight I emailed the proposal page link to three leaders within ASCD. I hope we are successful. If we are, I hope you will contribute to this effort by joining the wiki and helping us as we work with the ASCD 2009 annual conference program committee to follow through on the proposal.

Nothing worth doing is ever done in vain. (I said that.)

In Their Own Words ~ Students Learning with Web 2.0 or Two Master Teachers at Work

2008-04-28T04:48:00.009-04:00

Chris Harbeck and Darren Kuropatwa are mathematics teachers in Canada; Chris at Sargent Park School, a junior high school in Winnipeg and Darren at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate only a few blocks from Sargent Park. In April 2008 they brought a few of their students to Manitoba for the Pan-Canadian Interactive Literacy Forum to speak about their learning experiences in their respective math classes using Web 2.0 tools. Listen to Chris and Darren and their students speak. Be ready to take notes on the interactive internet tools the students refer to that have become signposts for how technology has become a transparent backdrop to the real business of school - learning. More important however, be ready to be inspired by these teachers' comments and the students' presentations. Remember as you are watching and listening to these SlideShares that if students do not have teachers like Darren and Chis who are willing to learn how to use Web 2.0 tools and use them to push learning off the charts for their students, the students in our schools will never have the learning experiences of which these students speak.

Here is Chris Harbeck and three of his students, Kate, Karen, and Angelo, speaking about their learning.

| View | Upload your own

Here is Darren Kuropatwa and three of his students, Chris Cadonic, Graeme Weiss, and Mark Rabena, speaking about their learning.

| View | Upload your own

Finally, don't miss the Q and A after the presentations, which you can find on Darren's blog in a post on the conference right here.

Be a Creative Thinker and Problem Solver - wikiHow

2008-04-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

Be a Creative Thinker and Problem Solver - wikiHow

Conversation by Design or Blogging for Community

2008-04-06T21:20:00.002-04:00

From: darmano, 10 months ago

| View | Upload your own

Creating an effective and unique blog experience

SlideShare Link

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-04-06T07:20:00.001-04:00

Pygmalion Project: April 3, 2008

2008-04-03T06:57:00.003-04:00

Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0 , a post by Will Richardson prompted this comment on a project I am beginning with my grandson.

Will, I've been thinking a lot about the juxtaposition of the tremendous challenges we face as we try to improve schools systemically and the individual learner's right to learn. Is it the story of learning students experience in schools that which is preventing them from fulfilling the promise we see for web 2.0 pedagogies, is it a broader issue of cultural norms and expectations that students have internalized, or is it something else?

I keep seeing in my mind's eye the pictures of your children sitting in your home with their laptops open ready to learn with a teacher who is with them via the internet. (Don't remember where the picture came from. Probably Pageflakes.) Right to learn triumphs over attempts to improve schools!

Here's a conference session proposal I just submitted to MassCUE for their November 2008 conference that describes the platform my grandson and I intend to use to learn more on the topic.

In the original Greek version of the story Pygmalion is a sculptor who creates a statue into which Aphrodite breathes life. Every day students in schools throughout our country are learning without the benefit of 21st Century Web 2.0 pedagogies. What would happen if someone tried to add those pedagogies from outside the system? Google applications, digital story telling tools, blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds and aggregators are some of the tools teachers are using to help students become self-directed learners. If a high school student is not asked by teachers to use those tools, is it possible for a student to learn how to apply those tools to complete his assignments and breathe live into his own learning? In this session John, a Massachusetts public high school student who once told me he did not mind learning, it was the homework he could not stand, will join me to report on our efforts to add Web 2.0 pedagogies into his learning environment. Which tools help John with assignments? Which carry him beyond the assignments into new learning? We will report on what happened and speculate about the implications for John’s future learning and schooling in general.

Here's John's first assignment.

I'd love to have my network join the conversation as this project (Pygmalion Project) moves forward. I'm flying somewhat blind here and could use everyone's help. You can start by commenting on this post.

The Planet is Their Classroom; Are They Ready to Learn?

2008-03-31T00:04:00.010-04:00

In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. ~ Eric Hoffer

The Future is Upon Us

The world my grandson Aidan will inherit is not the world of my childhood. A few weeks ago, for example, I learned that seeds are now more important to our future than I could have ever imagined. Norway has decided to help the planet bounce back from disaster by establishing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on an island that lies in the Arctic Ocean only 620 miles from the North Pole.

The Seed Vault can store up to 2.25 billion seeds and exists to preserve the biodiversity of the planet. Over 100 countries are contributing seeds to the vault. This is truly an international effort aimed at research, food preservation, and hope in a time when the world is predicted to experience drastic global climate change over the next 100 years.

This is the world my grandchildren and our communities’ children will inherit. Are we equipped to prepare our students for it? Does the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and hundreds of stories like it have a place in our curriculum?

I virtually attended the February 26, 2008 opening ceremonies inside the vault and you can too. It really is a trip to the future. Coincidentally, February 26 was Aidan’s sixth birthday; he is a kindergartener looking forward to a life of learning. What skills or literacies does he need for the 21st Century?

21st Century Literacies

We are well on our way to answering that question. A Google search to define 21st Century Literacy turns up 246,000 hits. A perusal of the top ten sites reveals references to multimedia literacy, information literacy (three mentions), digital-age literacy, multicultural literacy, visual literacy, media literacy, computer literacy, technology literacy, and network literacy. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that technology is having a tremendous impact on the thinking about what students need to know for the future.

Mary Devaney Columbo in an article New Literacy Skills for the 21st Century discusses the work of the Internet Reading Group at Clemson University and the New Literacies Research Team at the University of Connecticut. They have identified five new literacy skills students need to acquire for online reading. In On the Road to New Literacies Nancy Gustafson and Grace Maley discuss how their school district is implementing the Framework for 21st Century Skills developed by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Both articles appear in the spring 2008 issue of MASCD's journal Perspectives.

Three more important sources for information on 21st Century Literacies are:

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Project New Media Literacies,
National Educational Technology Standards for Students, Second Edition. International Society for Technology in Education,
enGauge: A Framework for Effective Technology Use. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Learning Point Associates. (Unfortunately there is this notice on the enGauge website: Effective 3/31/08, the enGauge website will no longer be available.)

Toward A Definition of 21st Century Literacies

Recently the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) issued a statement they called Toward A Definition of 21st Century Literacies that summarizes a lot of what I have learned about this topic.

Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to

Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments1

The digital universe where these literacies are evident is far removed from the world in which most parents, educators, researchers and politicians live. It is at best a foreign country and at worse the “dark side.” The language, behaviors, norms, tools, and learning environments, although at times virtual, are very real for those who use them; however, unless you experience them yourself, you will not be able to understand them or realize their importance for learning in the 21st Century. Perhaps if we acknowledge how difficult change is for us, we can overcome our resistance to the dramatic shift the digital world represents.
Resistance to Change

Frank Duffey in I Think, Therefore I Am Resistant to Change describes the psychological barrier we have to overcome if we are to understand these new literacies and transform education to prepare our children for their Svalbard-Global-Seed-Bank future.

Mental models resist change. People don't like to change what they think they know. Given new information to consider, individuals will search their existing mental models to ensure that the new information is consistent with what they know…. If the individual cannot link … new information to an existing mental model, he or she may … discard the information as irrelevant, unimportant, or wrong.2
Building Learning Communities

I was introduced to the digital world of learning at a conference in Massachusetts last summer, Building Learning Communities 2007, http://tinyurl.com/2rv9lv. It was the first time in my life I sat in a conference room to hear a keynote address where every other person had a computer open on his or her lap, and most if not all of the laptops were connected to the Internet. What I was slow to realize then was that some of the computers were communicating with colleagues who for whatever reason could not be physically present in the room, but who were nonetheless present virtually via computer They could be any place on the planet with an Internet connection.

K12 Digital Instructional Development

I went on from that experience to learn more about the digital world of learning that is currently evolving and, I predict, will continue to do so for some time. In October 2007 I attended a free three-week online conference called K12 Online Conference 2007 that is archived on the Internet at http://tinyurl.com/24h2o6 and will be held again in October 2008. Mark it on your calendar! What I learned at the conference opened my eyes to teaching and learning environments that were virtually unknown to me. Since then, with the help of a few people I met online at the conference, I have developed an online network of teachers, administrators, technology specialists and librarians from across the United States and the planet. They have helped me experience and understand the potential importance of the National Council of Teachers of English defined 21st Century Literacies to education for the future. They are part of my Twitter.com virtual network, and I cannot thank them enough for all they are doing to prepare our profession for education in the future.

Collective Intelligences

The MIT Center for Collective Intelligences, http://tinyurl.com/2zo9yl, was recently established to answer one research question: How can people and computers be connected so that—collectively—they act more intelligently than any individuals, groups, or computers have ever done before? For the sake of my grandson Aidan and all the children, I urge you to take the first step.Drop any resistance to the new literacies paradigm, commit yourself to learn more about it, and as you do, invite the colleagues from your professional learning community to join you on the journey I have begun into the digital universe our children will inherit. I am convinced, as MIT apparently is, that collectively we have an opportunity to pool intelligences globally in ways we cannot imagine today to answer the questions of tomorrow. We have to claim these opportunities and help our students to claim them. I suspect it may be the only way we will be able to live creatively and successfully in a world that could be very different from the one we are equipped to live in, a world that is rapidly disappearing.

1 Toward A Definition of 21st-Century Literacies, Adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee, February 15, 2008

2 I Think, Therefore I Am Resistant to Change. Francis M. Duffy. Journal of Staff Development, Winter 2003 (Vol. 24, No. 1). National Staff Development Council. http://tinyurl.com/37cl66

This article is in the Spring 2008 edition of Perspectives, MA Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

The two images come from Classroom 2.0.ning.com and are used with permission of the site creator.

Did You Know - IV?

2008-03-30T22:48:00.013-04:00

This is the most recent version of Did You Know - IV? video that I have seen. It reminds me of a 60 Minutes interview with Al Gore that aired tonight on Global Climate Change. This week a marketing campaign will begin (April 1, 2008) to convince people to acknowledge the truth of global climate change; Gore says, "this is about survival," and comments that Vice-President Dick Cheney and others like him, who say the jury's out on whether or not global climate change is being caused by humans, are similar to people who "still believe the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the earth is flat."

Later in the interview at CBS Gore says, "We don't have any other choice; we just don't have any other choice. I wish I knew a better way to do it. I constantly ask myself, how can I be more effective in getting this message across? It's so clear. It's so ... compelling and yet it takes time to get the facts out.

This new version of the Did You Know video is an attempt to get the facts out on a different topic - the global digital shift.

Big Think & Self-Directed Learning: How can students use it to learn?

2008-03-21T10:04:00.009-04:00

Here are examples of what Big Think offers. I'm wondering how Big Think could be used by students to learn. Any thoughts?

What inspires you?

What does it take to make the world into a better place?

Should there be limits on science?

Web 2.0 Presentation Style

2008-03-18T20:47:00.003-04:00

If you are new to making presentations on Web 2.0 pedagogies and want to see someone's work to emulate for content and style, here is a good example from a South Carolinian, Cathy Nelson. Good stuff Cathy!

Creating, Contributing, Collaborating

Comment on the features in this this style of presentation. How does this style of presentation differ from a typical bulleted slide presentation? To ignore it is to choose ~ Death by PowerPoint.

| View | Upload your own

May 1, 2008: Deadline for ASCD's 2009 Annual Conference Proposals

2008-03-15T08:53:00.004-04:00

May 1, 2009 is the Day. I am one person trying to change the world. Join me and we will make history. If you talk about the Echo Chamber, here's how to open the door of the chamber and walk out! I need your help to Pass This Forward! Education as we know it will never be the same if you do.

The 2009 ASCD Annual Conference has four themes and two are relevant to this shout out.

This is a "shout out" to students and educators in my digital network. Pass this message onto everyone in your network.

Twitter It!
Post It!
Do video teasers for YouTube and TeacherTube!
Do whatever it takes to get this message out.

THE MESSAGE

ASCD is the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Their membership represents more than 175,000 educators from 119 countries and nearly 60 affiliates. Their 2009 Annual Conference is about Imagining how to Engage Students more deeply in their Learning and about How Technology Can Help.

2008 Annual Conference: March 15-17, 2008

12,000 ~ The number of people attending
500+ ~ The number of sessions offered
27 ~ The number of sessions in the Instructional Technology Strand
5 ~ The number of sessions in the Instructional Technology Strand with Web 2.0 content!!

2009 Annual Conference Can Be Very Different
Visit Claiming What We Imagine

Creating Powerful Online Communities of Practice: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

2008-03-14T05:36:00.011-04:00

In this presentation from the North Carolina Association for Educational Communication and Technology Shift Happens Conference, March 12-14, 2008, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach shares her understanding of how to build online communities of Powerful Learning Practice. She really drills down into the topic, good insights!

Here is a Ustream.tv feed of the presentation. Below it you'll find the slide presentation and go here to find additional resources Nussbaum-Beach provides learners.

| View | Upload your own

NCAECT Shift Happens 2008 Conference Wiki

Changing the Conversation: ASCD’s WholeChildEducation.Org

2008-03-13T23:39:00.004-04:00

Well, I am in New Orleans for ASCD’s Reinventing Schools ~ Courageous Leadership for Positive Change Annual Conference. Because I am on the Leadership Council (LC), I received briefing materials for the LC meeting tomorrow afternoon. What strikes me is how much effort ASCD is putting into the Whole Child Initiative. The association really cares about this work to transform learning for kids. I could give you all the reasons why I believe this, but trust me, this is a sincere effort; they are walking the talk. I want to invite you to join us so let me start by quoting a section of the position statement on the Whole Child and the Whole Child Compact.

From Whole Child Position Statement

The current direction in educational practice and policy focuses overwhelmingly on academic achievement. However, academic achievement is but one element of student learning and development and only part of any complete system of educational accountability. ASCD believes a comprehensive approach to learning recognizes that successful young people are knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, motivated, civically inspired, engaged in the arts, prepared for work and economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond their own borders.

From the Whole Child Compact

Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.
Each student learns in an intellectually challenging environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults.
Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community.
Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults.
Each graduate is challenged by a well-balanced curriculum and is prepared for success in college or further study and for employment in a global environment.

If you believe in this, get involved by checking out the WholeChildEducation.Org website!

Especially the following pages:

Meme: Passion Quilt ~ Beauty is Truth

2008-03-07T01:03:00.010-05:00

Matt Montagne tagged me to participate in the passion quilt meme.

This activity helps the community deepen its understanding of who we are.

Poetry reaches out to touch our hearts in a way that I think no other art form does. I try to share the passion I have for the poem. Here’s some words from one.

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats

I tag the following for the Passion Quilt Meme:

arthus
Jeff Utecht
Jenny Luca
Sharon Peters
Kristin Hokanson

Passion Quilt Meme Rules:

Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

Photo courtesy of Troy Mason on flickr (Creative Commons, non-commerical)

How does learning ocurr in an Educational InterNetwork?

2008-02-24T22:48:00.008-05:00

Learning within an Educational InterNetwork happens like this:

Saturday Twitter invitation from Bud Hunt to attend Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation in 26 minutes
Virtual attendance at the morning sessions
Watching Ustream.tv live broadcasts of three presentations
Chatting with others actually and virtually attending and presenting
Sunday return to attend again by watching the recorded broadcast of some sessions
Watched Thin Walls Video with Clarence Fisher (Snow Lake, Manitoba) and Barbara Barreda (Los Angeles, California) talking about how their classes collaborate every day
Visited Clarence Fischer's Remote Access blog where I read this:

Phun

Sitting on the couch this Saturday morning with my son beside me scanning through my Google Reader. He makes me back up to a YouTube video embedded in a post that I had skimmed by and it turns out to be an amazing resource: Phun.

Developed as a Master of Science Theses by Computing Science student Emil Ernerfeldt in Sweden, Phun is a 2 - D physics modeling engine.

And found this:

Interactive American History Websites

2008-02-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

John Maklary from Katy, Texas, United States is a Technology Coordinator and Middle School Computer teacher at a PK-8 parochial school in Houston, Texas. His ed tech interests as of late include Digital Storytelling, Geo-Literacy projects, and incorporating more read-write web tools in his classroom.

He attended a workshop session on Interactive American History Websites and did a live blog post on what he was learning. Cover-It-Live was the tool he used.

Cover It Live Blog Post from Workshop on Interactive American History Websites from Learning 2.0 Resources.

Transcript

Launch of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence

2008-02-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

I think this is an interesting development in the world of networked learning. Although I don't like the corporate slant to the applications of research, perhaps we could have some influence on directing part of the energy of the center to education.

While people have talked about collective intelligence for decades, new communication technologies—especially the Internet—now allow huge numbers of people all over the planet to work together in new ways. The recent successes of systems like Google and Wikipedia suggest that the time is now ripe for many more such systems, and the goal of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence is to understand how to take advantage of these possibilities.

Our basic research question is: How can people and computers be connected so that—collectively—they act more intelligently than any individuals, groups, or computers have ever done before?'

The Center for Collective Intelligence brings together faculty from across MIT to conduct research on how new communications technologies are changing they way people work together.

MIT Center for Collective Intelligence Launch Video (Requires RealPlayer 8.0+)

Apple's Tour of 21st Century Learning through the EduCon 2.0 Lens of Experience

2008-02-10T16:35:00.000-05:00

The Apple Tour of 21st Century Learning I attended this week offered a lot to think about. I created a mind42.com (a really useful free online tool) MindMap Apple: A Tour of 21st Century Learning to represent some of the ideas that were presented in the Opening Presentation and three hands-on-the-computer-they-give-you sessions. The differences between this event and EduCon 2.0 in Philadelphia in January 2008 were striking:

These were very "teacher-at-the-center-of-the-learning" controlled experiences of technology and core subject content.
The questions on control of technology and by implication of student learning were noticeable from the participants in the one session where we had time to talk.
These were rehersed presentations and carefully orchestrated to deliver content through a simulated hands on use of the loaned computer.
No Ustream.tv broadcasts; no wiki to go to for follow up resources to support ongoing learning.
No conversations except over lunch (no Philly steak and cheese).
No free applications/technology tools.
No students.
None of the energy, excitement, sharing, or audience-presenter interaction.
Ideas on technology were "corporatized," a real word in case you are wondering.
The "core values" for 21st Century Student Learning presented at the beginning of the day (Creation - Distribution - Access - Collaboration) were invisible beyond the scripts we followed in the classrooms.

Despite these failings, I praise the Apple team for their efforts. Their hearts are definitely in the right place and they worked hard to deliver a good day. I just think we all have a lot to learn, myself included, before we know how to consistently push learning off the charts for students and educators. All children need to be healthy, safe, supported, engaged and challenged every day. We're not there yet.

Guy Kawasaki in the video on the Art of the Start speaks about passion and a desire to save the world as key ingredients for a start-up company's success. Guy claims these ingredients were keys to Apple's success. I wonder if Apple remembers that history? It sure didn't seem as if they did in the learning environments we experienced last week. They said the right things. Now they need to learn how to walk the talk. Keep the focus on Claiming What We Imagine for our students!

Some Questions

Do we know how to build passion and a desire to save the world into the way we educate children?
Would it help students learn?
Can Apple help us answer the questions?
What would an AppleCon 2.0 look like or are corporations and the conversations we had at EduCon 2.0 antithetical?
What would the world be like if Apple and Microsoft found the passion to learn from the lessons of EduCon 2.0? Could they help to "save the world?"

Math Comics Web Site or Opportunity for Formative Assessment?

2008-02-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

Jackie B from my Twitter.com network put me onto this site. Students with an interest in mathematics will appreciate the humor: Brown Sharpie. Math teachers can use the comics to add a little levity to the learning. If carefully guided by the teacher, I suspect it could also allow students with an aesthetic interest to show other students in the class how you can use an artistic lens to take a substantive look at math concepts in a way that extends and deepens their learning. What a great activity to publish in posts, a new scribe post activity worth investigating for math class - do the math and transform your understanding into something fun. For those who might not understand the math concept, it would help to accompany the comic with an explanation of the math. For another activity, how about asking your students to explain the math in the comic in a way that their parents can understand? In all cases these are opportunities, I suspect, for the teacher to assess what students understand about the math ~ formative assessment. With that information in hand, you can take the next step for each learner that is appropriate given their current level of understanding.

Influence Poetry Foundation: Call for Ideas and Concerns ~ Submit by February 22, 2008

2008-01-30T17:45:00.001-05:00

Teachers, Students, Parents - If You Care About Poetry, Read the Last Three Paragraphs of this Letter and Submit your Ideas and Concerns by February 22!!

I received this letter in an email from the Poetry Foundation, but when I went to the web site I could not find it. How could I announce the invitation contained in the letter? With hyper linking not an option, I decided to reprint the letter here and invite students, teachers and parents to read it, and specifically the last three paragraphs, and respond to the invitation.

POETRY FOUNDATION
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
JANUARY 2008

Ninety-six years ago, Poetry's founding editor, Harriet Monroe, articulated the magazine's now-famous Open Door policy. It continues to be the guiding legacy for Poetry and is also the primary principle informing all the programs and activities of the Poetry Foundation. It bears repeating here:
The Open Door will be the policy of this magazine—may the great poet we are looking for never find it shut, or half-shut, against his ample genius! To this end the editors hope to keep free of entangling alliances with any single class or school. They desire to print the best English verse which is being written today, regardless of where, by whom, or under what theory of art it is written.
One of the best ways to open doors is through partnerships. To that end, the Foundation has collaborated with many other nonprofit and cultural institutions since it began operations four years ago. The beauty of a successful poetry partnership is that the resources of each partner support and amplify those of the other in their mutual dedication to the art form. Recently we counted up these collaborations and were surprised to find that our partners number more than 40 different national and local academic and cultural institutions. The collective effect of all of the Foundation's activities in 2007—and here we thank our partners—was to place poems in front of 10 million people.

Fundamental to these endeavors are the hundreds of individual poets, writers, and literary scholars who contribute to our growing family of programs. From the pages of Poetry; to the poets who write for our blog, Harriet; to our television, podcast, and radio presenters; to the lecturers, panelists, and readers at our live events: these and many other gifted individuals are responsible for poetry's growing presence in American culture today.

The Foundation's aim is to increase that presence in both breadth and depth. Last year our partnership with the Library of Congress and its Office of the Poet Laureate sponsored a series of first-ever joint readings with the US and UK poets laureate in Chicago, Washington DC, and London, around a thematic program called Poetry Across the Atlantic. In keeping with this international theme, the April issue of Poetry once again was devoted to poetry in translation, while the September issue included a portfolio of contemporary poetry from India, and December featured a collection of Italian poetry.

Recognizing that poetry occurs in all corners of the culture, the Poetry Foundation has this past year cohosted readings in conjunction with the publication of McSweeney's Book of Poets Picking Poets, that publisher's first foray into poetry. It also staged a widely praised experimental theatrical production of Frank Bidart's "The Third Hour of the Night" in Chicago, and put on the ever-expanding Chicago Printers' Ball, featuring more than 90 local literary organizations in a monthlong festival of the printed word. An alliance of the Foundation with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is celebrating, over the course of a year, how American poets, musicians, and visual artists have influenced one another. Our events have featured Eavan Boland at Poetry Day, a reading with four poets from Cave Canem, a panel at the Chicago Humanities Festival on writers' relationships to the environment, and lectures by critics Marjorie Perloff and Helen Vendler.

Continuing Poetry's long history of giving awards, the Foundation annually presents a family of poetry prizes celebrating both established and new voices. The Pegasus Awards include partnerships with poetry publishers, including the Library of America and Graywolf Press, who publish books by our Neglected Masters and Emily Dickinson winners, respectively. Award recipients in 2007 include Lucille Clifton for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; Anne Stevenson for the Neglected Masters Award; Herbert Leibowitz of Parnassus for the Randall Jarrell Award in Criticism; Brian Culhane for the Emily Dickinson First Book Award; and John Surowiecki for our new Verse Drama Prize. Surowiecki's winning drama, My Nose and Me: (A TragedyLite or TragiDelight in 33 Scenes), will be staged in New York and Chicago in 2008.

Three years ago the Foundation's partnership with the Library of Congress launched American Life in Poetry, a syndicated weekly column of poems selected by former poet laureate, Ted Kooser and published by the Foundation with the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. That column now reaches more than four million newspaper readers each week, and the program is being expanded to offer a free poetry syndication service to newspapers featuring book reviews, op-eds, and articles on poets and poetry. In addition to continuing a series of broadcasts on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer exploring the role of poetry in society, the Foundation is also developing video projects with HBO, WGBH/Boston, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Those collaborations include a children's television special; a series of short poetry features to air on public television stations; and a cutting-edge effort to bring poetry to new audiences through video technology in the nation's transit systems. The common goal of these projects is to add a moment of introspection, wonder—even revelation—to the life of a harried commuter, a TV surfer, or a young child who has yet to encounter poetry.

Our research confirms that a positive experience with poetry early in life is the best way to create a lifelong reader of poetry. That has prompted the Poetry Foundation to develop programs aimed at both young adults and children. Now in its fourth year, our collaboration with the NEA, the acclaimed Poetry Out Loud competition, reached more than 175,000 high school students in 2007. A national recitation contest designed to return great poetry to the classroom, the project annually awards more than $100,000 in scholarship prizes. Jack Prelutsky, appointed the nation's inaugural Children's Poet Laureate by the Foundation, has made classroom visits and public appearances to raise the visibility of children's poetry across the country. His contributions have ranged from a reading for 400 schoolchildren in Chicago to a standing-room-only presentation at the National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington DC. Prelutsky has also written a series of essays for the Foundation's website recommending his favorite children's poets.

We are delighted to report that in its first year, the Foundation website, poetryfoundation.org, received a prestigious Webby Award for being a significant, comprehensive online resource for poetry. Our site now features content from every new issue of Poetry and an archive of 6,000 poems by more than 600 classic and contemporary poets, all freely downloadable. It's also an online poetry newspaper featuring journalism, a poetry best-seller list, reviews of events, and several podcasts, one of which (Poetry Off the Shelf) is now distributed by NPR. We are building an audio archive that will, over the next three years, include historic recordings by 125 essential American poets (selected by former poet laureate, Donald Hall in collaboration with UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion's Poetry Archive), as well as recordings by numerous leading contemporary poets. In addition, the website is piloting collaborative efforts with the Columbia School of Journalism and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

The Poetry Foundation is a young organization, and most of its programs are less than three years old. Two important new initiatives are just getting started. In order to serve the intellectual and critical dimensions of poetry, the Foundation has established the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute. The Institute is a collaborative forum that will bring together leading scholars, poets, translators, publishers, and thinkers from outside the poetry world to address issues of importance to poetry. The work of the Institute will emphasize extensive preparation and systematic follow-through on findings and recommendations. One could think of the Institute as a "think tank," an Aspen Institute writ very small, with a single focus on poetry. In fact, the Foundation has agreed to partner with the Aspen Institute for the inaugural year of the Poetry Institute's programs. Its first 12 months will start with a call for ideas and concerns,* followed by identification of issues and research, which will culminate in a conference to be held in Aspen in the spring of 2009.

Finally, the Foundation has purchased land and embarked on the building of a major new center for poetry in Chicago. The space will house the Foundation's offices, archive, and library but also, we hope, will become a destination for visitors from all over the country. John Ronan Architects of Chicago will design the building, and we expect to open the newest of these Open Doors in 2010.

Sincerely,

John Barr
President

* In its initial call for ideas and concerns, the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute is asking these questions: (1) What are the most pressing needs of poetry and the poetry community? (2) How can the delivery of poems from writers to readers be improved? (3) What hinders the discovery, circulation, and celebration of poems in our culture? (4) In what ways are poetry and the poetry community vital and thriving? If you have specific recommendations, we invite you to e-mail us at HMPI@poetryfoundation.org by February 22, 2008. We are eager to hear from you.

EduCon 2.0 Panel Discussion

2008-01-27T09:02:00.001-05:00

Overcoming Barriers to Establishing and Sustaining PLCs in Schools

2008-01-26T11:38:00.000-05:00

Sustaining Professional Learning through Community – Part 3 of 3

What obstacles are preventing us from establishing PLCs and sustaining them in all our schools? According to the DuFours there is a knowing-doing gap in our profession. They contend that we know what to do, but that we do not follow through with the actions that are aligned with what we know. If we know that establishing PLCs is what we should do, in their book On Common Ground, the DuFours identify ten barriers to action and how to overcome them.

1. Substituting a decision for action – be sure decisions are implemented in actions
2. Substituting mission for action – identify collective commitments that must be demonstrated in action
3. Planning as a substitute for action – create and implement ongoing cycle of improvement including team-based action research
4. Complexity as a barrier to action – keep it simple
5. Mindless precedent as a barrier to action – build shared knowledge of best practice
6. Internal competition as a barrier to action – build a “sharing culture” with SMART goals that require interdependent collaboration
7. Badly designed measurement systems as a barrier to action – create formative assessments that provide teachers regular, timely information about student learning
8. An external focus as a barrier to action – focus on what we can and should do to improve learning for each student
9. A focus on attitudes as a barrier to action – create protocols and consistently send the messages that will foster new attitudes and beliefs about improving student learning
10. Training as a substitute for action – balance training and doing by using learning from doing to adjust practice and then do again and adjust again 2

In schools I think we have a tendency to have discussions around topics such as teaching strategies, programs, curriculums, or professional development that we believe, if implemented, will have a positive impact on students learning. After all of that work and effort, however, there is no time to focus on what students are learning each day, using formative assessments to monitor their learning, analyzing collectively how our teaching impacted the learning, and responding collectively to students who did not learn and students who are ready for more.

PLC Resources

To promote better understanding of all things PLC, the DuFours have created a non-commercial web site that provides much information, resources and web links to assist you learn more about the topic: www.allthingsplc.org I would also recommend the resource Through New Eyes: Examining the Culture of Your School. It includes a powerful dramatization of the experiences of a high school freshman in a “traditional” school and the same freshman in a PLC school that for me did a good job illustrating the day-to-day behaviors of staff in a PLC school. I would hope my freshmen grandson is having experiences typical of a PLC school. You can find it at www.solution-tree.com.

1. Richard DuFour and Rebecca DuFour. Implementing PLC Concepts: Tips for Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap. Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference, Boston, November 30 – December 1, 2007.
2. Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker and Rebecca DuFour, On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities, Solution Tree, 2005.

What are the Critical Pieces of the PLC Puzzle?

2008-01-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

Sustaining Professional Learning through Community – Part 2 of 3

Rick and Becky DuFour began their New England ASCD November 2007 workshop with the “Big Ideas” of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). This is the text of their first presentation slide.

We accept learning as the fundamental purpose of our school and therefore are willing to examine all practices in light of their impact on learning.
We are committed to working together to achieve our collective purpose. We cultivate a collaborative culture through development of high performing teams.
We assess our effectiveness on the basis of results rather than intentions. Individuals, teams, and schools seek relevant data and information and use that information to promote [their] continuous improvement. 1

Then they showed us a list of twenty-four national professional organizations and twenty-five educational researchers who endorse the PLC concepts; some of the researchers whose work I know and respect are Roland Barth, Doug Reeves, Dennis Sparks, Thomas Sergiovanni, Linda Darling-Hammond, Richard Elmore, Carl Glickman, Jonathan Saphier, Michael Fullan, Andy Hargraves, and Robert Marzano.

Establishing Sustainable PLCs

Now, if all these respected educators are in favor of PLCs, what do we need to do to establish viable, sustainable PLCs? The DuFours offered very specific guidance.

Adopt new programs and practices
Discontinue much of what we have been doing
Agree on the essential learnings for each student for each week, month and year
Build the capacity and effectiveness of teacher teams to work interdependently to analyze and impact their professional practice in order to improve individual and collective results that demonstrative how well each student is acquiring the essential learnings
Create shared team knowledge for essential learnings
Create team-based systems to monitor each student’s attainment of essential learnings in a timely, ongoing basis through frequent common formative assessments
Create school-based and district-based systems to ensure students receive additional time and support when they experience difficulty when they experience difficulty in mastering essential learnings
Assess the school-based systems to ensure that they are timely, directive and systematic
Provide time for teachers within the school day/calendar
Each team adopts student oriented essential learnings goals
Each team adopts norms, critical attributes, and protocols of high performing teams
Each team is hungry for ongoing, timely evidence of student learning
Align all practices to promote our fundamental purpose of high levels of student learning
Embed more of the process of teachers acquiring new knowledge in the actual doing of the task and less in formal training programs 1

What a Kindergartener Wants: Will PLCs Help Him Learn?

2008-01-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

Sustaining Professional Learning through Community – Part 1 of 3

I asked my grandson who attends kindergarten what he had learned in school recently. He told me spelling, and then he asked for paper and a pen so he could print the words Zoo, Lion, Batman, and Spiderman to illustrate his important learning. Boy, he seemed really motivated! Then I asked him what he wanted to learn this week in school. He said, “I want to learn to use the telephone.” Now he could have said that he wanted to learn how to read, but I’ll stay with the telephone. We talked about the telephone, and he decided his first step was to copy down my phone number and his so we could talk about them and he could begin to learn how to remember them and be ready when he learned how to “use the telephone.” I doubt his teacher is planning to teach him how to use the phone this week, but if it was an essential learning, could I be assured that the teacher, his or her team, and the school have in place everything that the DuFours and many others are saying is essential to a PLC? Will the school and district have overcome the barriers that stand in the way of actions that will truly have an impact on student learning? Can I assume they have answers to the four corollary questions if we believe all students can learn?

1. What is it we expect them to learn?
2. How will we know when they have learned it?
3. How will we respond when they have not learned it?
4. How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient? 1

If we want students to learn how to use the phone (or to read), for example, how will we know if they can use the phone (or read), what will we do if they can not use the telephone (or read) after we have taught them, and what will we do if they can use the phone (or read) either before we teach them or while we are still teaching other students in the class? Effective PLCs are developing answers to each of those questions for each essential learning in each grade and each course in elementary, middle and high schools throughout the country.

Where do you stand in relation to the best practice of PLCs?
How about your school or district?

1. Richard DuFour and Rebecca DuFour. Implementing PLC Concepts: Tips for Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap. Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference, Boston, November 30 – December 1, 2007.

How Often Do You Have to Use Web 2.0 Tools?

2008-01-19T06:54:00.001-05:00

U Tech Tips » Blog Archive » Teachers as blogging models

Jeff Utecht on his U Tech Tips expresses the ultimate goal for integrating technology into the classroom that I would recommend to teachers.

I’m not sure how many times I say it in my k12online conference presentation, but if you want blogging to work in your classroom…I mean really change the way business is done. It can not be “one more thing you do” it has to be what you do. It has to replace the way you write, communicate, and give and accept assignments. It needs to be a place that both the teacher and the student can look to and understand that this is a learning vehicle. Both the student and the teacher must take part in the learning that a blog can offer.

There is power to be had in these tools. But only when we commit ourselves to learning them, think about them on a deeper level for learning, and take ownership in the learning ourselves, will they have a real affect on our educational system.

Now, if this is the ultimate goal, what is the starting expectation for teachers learning about blogging for the first time?

I visited an introductory Web 2.0 professional development session at our high school yesterday. The presenter mentioned that in his experience teachers get fired up to use a blog with their classes but after a few times the interest and commitment fizzle out. He recommended that teachers "have a plan" for why and how they would use a blog and that they commit to using the blog five times a semester to begin, which would me ten time a year or once a month.

I'm don't believe ten times a year is the best way to help set an expectation for use of blogs in class when teachers are beginning to use blogging in class.

What advice would you give to teachers starting out using blogs in classes if the ultimate goal is as Jeff expresses it above?

First Live Blog: Cover It Live

2008-01-07T19:47:00.000-05:00

I got a tip to check this tool out from Jeff Utecht. Thanks, Jeff. Here is my first Live Blog, archived for the world to see. Just a test run!

I Traveled to Mount Everest using Google Earth and Left My Mark (Placemark that is!)

2008-01-03T00:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks to David Jakes' first post of the year on The Strength of Weak Ties, I learned how to create a placemark using Google Earth. I noticed on Twitter that David had created his first post of 2008. Mixed Media-Extreme Environments was a tutorial on how to use an online HTML editor to create a placemark for GE. When I learn how to upload and embed files to Blogger posts, I'll let you see the results. Impressive. Text, picture, links, video link (David helped my over Skype and we learned after much trial and error, that GE does more support videos in placemarks for Macs), and resource web page for National Geographic.

The Learning Culture We Need but Don't Want or Will we move the School Improvement Conversation to the Next Level?

2007-12-25T23:11:00.000-05:00

Here is my comment on the comment Patrick Higgins left in response to my December 23, 2007 post.

[This is my attempt to walk the talk. Online engagement in conversations about our practice. Can we get better at our student learning? I really think so, but we are going to have to stop doing some things and start doing other things if we hope to succeed.]

Hi Patrick,

Glad you dropped by and shared some thoughts.

I do think the ideas I presented in the December 23rd post are replicable in any school or district. If I can elaborate, feel free to get in touch. You can direct message me on Twitter at dennisar.

I think the come-on-along-and-blog with me challenge is much more daunting than you let on. My little experience with it (my web 2.0 birthday - July 2007) tells me that initially it has nothing to do with PD. This is going to seem like a radical notion, but, face it, in education, we don't read and we certainly don't write about the art and science of our practice. I'd go so far as to say that even though we are the learning profession, we do not truly invest in self-directed learning for ourselves. The culture of our profession is more prone to build walls than bridges. For example, I have my degree. Now leave me alone so I can teach.

I make these comments with affection for my colleagues because I count myself a member of this class. I certainly did read about our practice and did write occasionally, but nothing like I have done since creating my wiki in August 2007 (now I have a second one) and this blog. It takes a lot of intellectual scaffolding to gear up to engage in this effort. Learning every day is hard work.

I try to post at least once a week, if not more. I read twitter comments and investigate leads about new ideas , tools, resources, blog posts, articles, and books, and meet people who have similar interests as I do and develop important professional relationships. It is a very stimulating environment that few in our profession want to participate in for a whole variety of reasons. In ten minutes I'm sure you and I could brainstorm a top ten list of reasons teachers and administrators would give for not engaging in reflecting, reading, writing, thinking, and communicating with others about their practice on an ongoing basis, even if it is off line! Isn't that a learning environment? Until that issue is confronted, I do not believe teachers and administrators, in general, will

significantly improve schools for students and ourselves,
experience the exhilaration of efficacy, regularly,
actively participate in online networks,
create blogs.

The later two actions, as you and I know, have a synergistic impact on the first two. First, we have to find teachers and administrators willing to our schools into learning cultures.

It is also worth pointing out that although we want students to be life-long learners, we never confront the fact that we may be modeling just the opposite for students. How much richer would our schools be for students if we expected the Framework for 21st Century Skills of ourselves ~ all teachers and administrators, even unions negotiating for learning cultures in all our grades, teams, department, schools, and districts.

I'm not really sure who to blame (I'll take my share) or what all the answers are (I strive for answers in my face to face work and through my online professional network). We need the critical mass of teachers and administrators involved to get beyond blame so we can think critically and creatively so innovative solutions can be owned by all of us for the profession that cherishes student learning above all else.

As a former English teacher, I agree with your comments about the writing process. Writing within the online environment of blogging is similar to other writing. I think it is very intense if presented correctly to students. Others are much more skillful doing that and writing and speaking about that than I am. I think blogging can help students learn a lot and develop net literacies that will serve them well in the future as the world becomes more and more digitally oriented.

Thanks again for stopping by; your comments got me thinking. Without them I would not have posted this morning. That is one reason I blog: the commitment to post causes me to think and write; the comment by someone about my post causes me to think and write in a way that extends my thinking. Well, Patrick, let's see if anyone else offer us their insights on our exchange.

Patrick Higgins left the following comment in response to my December 23, 2007 post.

Dennis,

I figured I would come here and drop my comment off and continue the conversation a little bit.

You lay out a great plan for implementation as a thought and planned process, and I must admit, since reading Kim's post initially, I have had visions of how to organize this meeting with our ed tech and curriculum staff. We need plans like this for addressing exactly how an why we ask our teachers to introduce technology, or better, to embed it into their planning.

As you probably can tell, I am a blog "evangelist" among our district's teachers; There is so much power right at the fingertips of students when you give them space, guidance, and freedom to choose their voice. But that is not to say that we put them there and let them go, yet. We've got much scaffolding to do in order for our students to understand the parameters of writing online and for a relatively unknown audience.

Does blogging or any form of connective writing differ from traditional paper and pen writing? Absolutely; however, there are so many things about it that easily translate: drafting before you publish, proofreading, prompt writing, process writing, relevant topics, finding voice, bringing in expert sources, etc. My biggest stumbling block has been to pull teachers on board to show them how similar the two can be and that the shift, while significant, is not much of a change for them or their students.

December 25, 2007 7:12 AM

Is there a Professional Knowledge Base for Using Web 2.0 tools for Student Learning?: A Question, The Education Context, The Implementation Context

2007-12-23T08:25:00.000-05:00

A Question

Why not start [teacher's modeling for students] earlier, right from the moment our students sign in [to their blog] for the first time?

Patrick Higgins, who works for the Sparta Township, NJ Public Schools, posted on his blog, Chalkdust: the latest incarnation of my professional self, about the help he gave to one of his colleagues who wanted to set up a blog for her class. His protocol for assistance in this case involved

... showing her what the other Civics class blog looked like, including the types of assignments and assessments the class was using, and the general pattern we followed to allow the students to transition into writing on blogs. A couple things stood out to me as I was describing the process to Carole on Friday:
allowing students time to get used to the space is essential
rigor is also necessary; time given to assimilate onto the blog should be limited and have a definitive end time where the students know that they can still play, but they are being held accountable for their content.
After we had set her up to play with the blog and finalize her vision for where she wanted to go with it, which she will have time to do over the holiday break, I headed home, still thinking about how I described the process to her.

Later in the post Patrick comments that he read a post by Kim Cofino.

When reading this passage from Kim Cofino, something new was apparent to me about the blog spiel that I deliver to teachers:
All too often, teachers set up an online space for their students and then just “let them have a go” - basically leaving the students on their own in this new environment (sometimes because the teacher is not sure where to start). Not only does this provide fertile breeding ground for misbehavior, but it is definitely not something teachers would do in the physical world, so there’s really no rationale for letting them go in a virtual environment. Teachers must be the model for appropriate behavior online, just like they are in the physical classroom.
It makes perfect sense: teachers rarely give students directions so vague and expect anything of quality to return. As Kim states, it's a breeding ground for trouble to begin. We ask our teachers to be present online, as it insures that they are an integral part of the process the students undergo online; our most successful teachers with students online are our most frequent commenters. Why not start that process earlier, right from the moment our students sign in for the first time? Instead of "hey, let them play for a couple of days," I think I will advocate having the teachers model how to customize their page and require that they "assign" a few of the layout changes to the students by a specified date.

I responded to Patrick Higgins post with the following comments on the educational context I believe is very relevant to the question raised by his post.

The Education Context

Patrick,

As you know, it is not about technology, it is about learning.

We need to professionalize PK-21 leadership and learning. The way to do that is for everyone in the profession to always use our knowledge base to guide our decisions and actions each day for each student. We meet with student 180+ days a year to help them learn. Each of those days is precious and must include relevant learning activities and formative assessments guided by three beliefs: 1) What we are doing today is important; 2) You can do what I am asking you to do; 3) I(we) am(are) not going to give up until you have learned what we believe is essential for you to learn. It is critical that we communicate these beliefs in our words and actions to students throughout school day, each and every day.

Are activities using technology any different?

A blog provides a tool for learning. "Students, what we will do today with this blog is important, you can do it, etc." Prior to that event in the class, our grade-level team or department team should have asked what is essential for the students to learn? We decided that using the blog is the best way to help the kids learn the essential "it." During and after students have used the blog, we check (formatively assess and then summatively) to see if the kids learned what we believe is essential for them to learn.

But what do we do if students do not learn what we consider essential?

As a team, department, and as a school we must have a plan in place to ensure that students will receive emotional and academic support from a variety of different angles and providers to ensure that we find a way for students to learn the essential "it" that, so far, they have not learned.

Providers that could be part of the plan for helping students learn the essential "it:"

Guidance counselor
Administrator
Faculty advisor
Upper class student mentor
Teaching team members with special skills
Grade-level or cluster team leader
Department head
Special education teacher
Volunteer mentor
Volunteer tutor

When it comes to the essentials, I think we need to trim down the learning standards that the academic associations and the states have set as targets for student learning and integrate the Framework for 21st Century Learning (21stcenturyskills.org) and the new literacies for powerfully using the internet for learning. We need to act on "What are the essential" standards students need to learn.

FYI, I am collecting information related to 21st Century Net Literacies on a wiki in case you are interested.

Thank you for the prompt your post provided. I hope my comments are helpful!

Regards,

Dennis

The Implementation Context

Kim Corvino on her blog, always learning: teaching technology abroad, posted about the first year implementation of social networking with elementary school students at the International School, Bangkok, Thailand. She pushes the profession to take Web 2.0 very seriously, as serious as any other effort to establish a meaningful learning environment. Kim models what we need to do to advance the knowledge base in this area. It is an excellent commentary on academics, technology, implementation, change, learning and leadership. Thanks Kim.

Learning Science among the Mangroves

2007-12-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

Marga is a friend, who is now working for the USA Peace Corps. She recently told me a story of a day in her life. I wanted to share it so I asked and received permission from her to tell it to you.

A Day in the Life

I have been trying to do some environmental education at an elementary school with a great sixth grade teacher. We are trying to avoid just blowing in with fancy new information and connect it to the regular science/health curriculum. We are looking at the partner ecosystems (coral, sea grass & mangrove) that are important for fisheries sustenance. However, there is less than 100,000 hectares of mangrove left in the entire Philippines, even though there are many acres now being restored in planting projects. There is still a lot of belief they are just a muddy wasteland. Still many of the kids had never seen a typical mangrove with prop roots, pneumataphore, etc. so I agreed to do a field trip, but it turned out you couldn't really walk there from here soooo.....

Over the years I have done an uncountable number of school field trips. Well today I took 86 kids on a field trip to see mangroves in a town two barangays away. There are no school buses in the Philippines so I borrowed the farm truck from the municipio.

Flat Tire?

I came out fifteen minutes early to make sure we were set and mentioned that the front right looked a bit low. Flat? Ronnie the driver asked. Well a bit, yes. So we go to the gas station. Actually, I think it is quite windy but why do I care? Ahhh air machine is broke. I care. So we return to municipio and proceed to make quick tire change---quick means engine is running (standard transmission, so truck is in neutral) wheels are not choked, a guy is lying under truck in front of wheel banging the jack up. I can not watch and go over to the office, put my head down on the desk.

Actually when I return there is a small round stone fore & aft of one wheel & already he is lying there banging the jack down. Then they finish tightening the lugs, in order-not opposites as I was taught — with a huge lug wrench with a 5 foot extension handle. Fini!

Transportation

The hakot, a farm word I don’t know, is like a very shallow dump truck with a barely waist high rail around. We have a rope across the middle for sort of like holding onto those old swinging straps on the MTA. There are also 2 narrow planks across so a few could sit on who can’t reach the rope.

So I load half — forty plus kids in the back — feet on the FLOOR! Don’t stand on the side! Don’t sit on the rail! Everyone PLEASE hold onto — well something! The children's teacher stays with the others and we take off down the highway with everyone standing in the back of the truck, hootin’ and waving to all people and vehicles as we go. We have a prayer here before everything and for the first time I wished we had had one before this truck started rolling. From the 11 year old point of view, yes, this is a ball. From the only adult with forty kids whose names I don’t even know……AGGGHHHH!!!

I try to warn them when we are about to brake for the turn but we go shrieking and staggering around the corner onto the dirt road where the branches beat us from above and the sides — please don’t let there be a low wire!!!

I am still dangling from the tailgate groping for a foot hold & the class has already shot onto the bridge and is hanging over the rail. Okay, everyone come to the middle. This is important, I announce. “Do not climb on the rail. NO one is allowed to fall in the river 'till your teacher gets here — is that clear?” “Yes, Ms. Marga.” We return to the rail and I point out the gamay isday — are they the juvenile fish from our lesson? Yes, I am in heaven!

Along the Muddy Banks

We trekked along the muddy bank of the Ajong River, brandishing my field guide pointing out pneumatiphores, prop roots, seed pods germinating on branches, detrius feeders at Nipa trunks, crab holes in the mud etc. My god you might almost believe I had actually seen a mangrove before 4 months ago! I need Pam Polloni! She always did the important biology stuff on field trips!!

It is very interesting to see that the kids are well trained to recognize key vocabulary and memorize it. I say, “These special root adaptations are called pneumatiphore.” “PNEUMATIPHORES!” echoes back at me from eighty enthusiastic young voices. The sound wave nearly knocked me backwards into the river! Unfortunately, it is pretty clear they are memorizing vocabulary not making a critical connection to structure and function or critical thinking paths — what happens if these are buried by silt? What process? How? Why? I don’t hear those questions………

Coming back I had a better concept of how perfectly safe this actually was so we just loaded all eighty-six in for one trip!

Charlie and friends behind the cab climb onto the rail, sticking way up and leaning into the wind like the scene in Titanic. Charlie down! ……… Everyone lived. I am home now and already on my second beer.

Formative Assessment ~ Rick And Becky DuFour

2007-12-13T19:27:00.000-05:00

After Building Learning Communities 2007 there is BLC 08

2007-12-13T00:12:00.001-05:00

BLC 07 conference changed my professional life. Before BLC 07 I was unaware of all the changes that were occurring in the digital world positively influencing K12 teaching and learning. As a leader in K12 education I know I have to become more informed of these trends and know taking a course was not something I could wait to take. I immersed myself in Web 2.0 technologies and pedagogies and, most importantly, I developed a global network of educators willing to share what they knew to help me learn. I highly recommend BLC 08 as a great way to jump start your learning or to extend it in meaningful and significant ways. Come with your laptop and an openness to self-directed learning for a real emotional and intellectual treat. DR

It’s Not Your Father’s Internet Anymore or A Framework for the Emerging Field of Study Examining the Effects of Digital Media on Learning and Youth

2007-12-12T20:32:00.000-05:00

December 12, 2007

"The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect peoples sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically.

Thanks to the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation, open access electronic versions of all the books in this series are available. Follow the links ... below to read these editions."

What? So What? What's Next?

The Digital Media and Learning series is a major six-volume publication by the MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with MIT Press on the effects of digital media on young people and learning that will be used as a framework, beginning in 2008, for the new International Journal of Learning and Media. The IJLM will continue the investigation of the relate topics introduced by the framework. The prominence that this publication and associated journal lends to this emerging field of study seems important, certainly, but what really makes the effort significant in my eyes in addition to the content is "...the participatory and open online review process [used in the initiative that] is helping to establish new collaborative approaches to scholarship.” "Open discussions were held in virtual worlds and on a wiki hosted by the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.

Excerpts from December 12, 2007 Press Release

The MIT Press today announced the publication of a new series on digital media and learning supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The new six-volume series

examines the effect of digital media on how young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life.

The series’ release marks the launch of the new International Journal of Learning and Media, through which

core issues facing young people in the digital age will be explored.

In a departure from traditional publishing, articles were subject to a robust review process that took place in a series of online conversations among the authors, editors, and the public. These open discussions were held in virtual worlds and on a wiki hosted by the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.

A Framework for the Emerging Field of Digital Media and Learning

“The series and the new journal are critical tools in providing a framework for the emerging field of digital media and learning,” said Jonathan Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation. “Of equal importance is the way in which the articles were written and developed. In a field made up of diverse researchers and practitioners,

the participatory and open online review process is helping to establish new collaborative approaches to scholarship.”

Vol. 1 ~ Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth

Lance Bennett points out that the future of democracy is in the hands of the young people of the digital age in Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth.

Michael Xenox and Kristen Foot tackle the generational gap in online politics. As they point out, it’s “not your father’s internet anymore.”

Vol. 2 ~ Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility

The contributors to Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility look particularly at youth audiences and experiences, considering the implications of wide access and the questionable credibility of information for youth and learning.

Vol. 3 ~ The Ecology of Games

In The Ecology of Games, noted game designer Katie Salen of the Parsons New School of Design has gathered essays not only from those who study games and learning but from those who create such worlds

… the volume contains an article on participatory culture by Cory Ondrejka who as CTO of Linden Labs helped create Second Life and a case study on collective intelligence gaming by Jane McGonigal, premier puppet master of the new genre Alternate Reality Games.

Vol 4 ~ Youth, Identity, and Digital Media

Youth, Identity, and Digital Media, edited by David Buckingham explores how young people use digital media to share ideas and creativity and to participate in networks that are small and large, local and global, intimate and anonymous.

Vol 5 ~ Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected

The range of topics touched on in Tara McPherson's volume Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected is perhaps the widest of all in the collection. Lest we forget lessons learned from other eras she includes essays by Justine Cassell and Meg Cramer of Northwestern on moral panic in the early days of the telegraph and telephone and Christian Sandvig of Illinois and Oxford evokes the collective imagination applied in the early days of wireless technology and analogizes it to that of the era of short wave radio.

Vol 6 ~ Learning Race and Ethnicity

Anna Everett of the UC Santa Barbara draws on the work a diverse group of scholars including Chela Sandoval and Guisela Latorre from her own campus, Raiford Guins of the University of the West of England, Anotonio Lopez of World Bridger Media, Jessie Daniels of Hunter College and Doug Thomas of USC and others who in Learning Race and Ethnicity draw out lessons from Chicana/o activism, Hip Hop, and digital media in native America as well as hate speech and racism in online games.

International Journal of Learning and Media

Beginning in 2008, the new International Journal of Learning and Media will continue the investigation of the effects of digital media on young people and learning. Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the new journal will be published quarterly by The MIT Press in partnership with the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education. Funds also have been provided to support an on-line community for discussing the articles in the journal and the issues that are central to the emerging field.

MIT Press Digital Media and Learning

Beginning on December 12, 2007, all the books in The MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning will be available in bookstores as well as electronically at MIT Press Digital Media and Learning.

About the MacArthur Foundation

About MacArthur Foundation Digital Learning Initiative

About The MIT Press

About the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education

Digital Shift is On ~ The "digital natives" will stop showing up unless we shift with it!

2007-12-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

PART 3
December 8, 2007

One of the things I saw over the last few years in the Roman Catholic church I attended when I was young is how many gray heads were sitting in the pews during mass on Sunday. What was going on? How will the church have to change to enlist youth in religion?

I have been speaking over the last few month about the digital shift occurring in our youth. We see that in the electronic devices they use and have access to each day. How will schools have to change to keep up with this shift to enlist youth in education?

An then again... what are the implications of Weinberger's observations and theories?

Last night I collected my computer and Logitech laptop camera to attend the David Weinberger dinner and lecture I mentioned in my December 5th blog post. When I arrived at the dinner which I had assumed was going to be a small, intimate dinner with the author and some friends, I was surprised to see over a hundred people in their 60's and 70's feasting on a buffet dinner. I learned that the dinner was part of a Friday Forum lecture series.

I was out of place, not because of my age, but because of my computer. Once again (this happens everywhere) I was the only one with a black leather computer case. The digital shift is not ubiquitous yet.

It was a pleasant meal with some friendly people, but I wanted to engage with the author about his thinking and this wasn't going to be the forum for that kind of an exchange. The organizer for the event did introduce me to Weinberger. I told him I was looking forward to his presentation; "you have put words to what I have been thinking," I said to him. Weinberger replied, "Good thing your thoughts aren't copyrighted."

I was the first to leave dinner; I wanted to get to the lecture hall so I could test out the internet connection and prepare for my Ustream.tv broadcast. Although I still hadn't figured out how to archive a broadcast, I still wanted to try; sooner or later I will find out and the experience with broadcasting will get me ready for my EduCon 2.0 presentation on January 26, 2007, Claiming what we Imagine.

I fired up Firefox only to get the "no connection screen." I fittled with with "View available Networks" and found that they was a wireless connection in the air, but when I tried to connect, I got a message asking me for an ID, password, and room number. Frustrating, but it happens everywhere, either there is no connection or their is a connection for only the registered users. Obviously, with no connection, no Ustream broadcast.

People from the dinner and many others (totaling I'd guess 250) shuffled into the lecture hall. Most were in their 60's and 70's ~ no one had a computer but me. David Weinberger was introduced with words of praise that must have come from the reviews of his new book. He began his presentation and wow! It was almost exactly the same presentation he gave on Google. See PART 2, December 6th below. How ironic! Here is a Fellow from Harvard's prestigious Berkman Institute for Internet & Society speaking about how accessible knowledge on the internet is for users and I'm sitting in a presentation for the second time! I found out later on his blog that the presentation is his "stump speech" for his new book.

Did he assume no one would Google his name and find the presentation video and watch it before the Friday Night lecture? Did it not occur to him to even make the connection between his online version, the presentation I was watching and an internet literate audience?

I am grateful to have access to his ideas online and it doesn't seem to have dampened the enthusiasm for him as a speaker with the "digital immigrant" generations. Will we realize that a monster is growing among us?

Digital natives are the result of our world's cultural and economic inclinations.
Inertia is preventing us from changing to digital habits (ubiquitous internet access?).
Digital natives are not showing up to analog institutions: churches, education, Friday Night lectures.

Can you Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? or An invitation to Dinner with David Weinberger

2007-12-05T12:02:00.001-05:00

PART 1
December 5, 2007

Well, maybe not an invitation to the actual dinner, you know how digital is its own reality, an digital invitation. I am going out to dinner Friday night at 6:00 p.m. with David Weinberger and some other folks from the scientific community in Woods Hole, Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA. After dinner Mr. Weinberger is giving a lecture, 7:30 p.m. in case you are in the area, to the general public, "Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder" on Friday, December 7.

I am inviting you to ask questions, provide Weinberger quotes or anecdotes, links, videos, or anything else in any format that comes into your "digitally disordered" mind to prepare me for my meeting with him. I will use whatever you give me to prepare a montage to represent you at the dinner and lecture. Not sure if this has been done before, but what the heck, that's what innovation is all about! Reminder, I'd like to keep the focus on K12 leadership and learning, but am willing to consider including other issues if they seem relevant.

email: drichards(at) gmail (dot) com
twitter: dennisar
skype id: drichards1

P.S. I will ask him if I can UStream the lecture if that seems possible, but I need someone to coach me prior to Friday's lecture.

PART 2
December 6, 2007

To learn more about David Weinberger, I googled his name with the word video: "david weinberger video," and found this Google video of a presentation he did.

Google Tech Talks May 10, 2007

ABSTRACT

David Weinberger's new book covers the breakdown of the established order of ordering. He explains how methods of categorization designed for physical objects fail when we can instead put things in multiple categories at once, and search them in many ways. This is no dry book on taxonomy, but has the insight and wit you'd expect from the author of The Cluetrain Manifesto, Small Pieces Loosely Joined, and a former writer for Woody Allen.

Why is this like our jobs as educators in K12 schools? Leave your thoughts as a comment.....

2007-12-01T08:30:00.000-05:00

Here is a video that was presented in a workshop on Professional Learning Comunities by Richard and Becky DuFour, December 1, 2007, New England Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Blogs in Plain English: Commoncraft Production

2007-12-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

You’ve seen the word, you've seen the web sites and you may even have one. But have you ever wondered: What's the big deal about blogs?

This is blogs in plain English. Here is another video production from Commoncraft.

Do teachers need to innovate? Or is innovation a 21st Century skill we must teach in school?

2007-11-26T20:45:00.001-05:00

Student Art Show ~ the VoiceThread Way

I am reading a blog post by Jeff Utecht on R & D in education. Jeff makes the point that without the exploration time he personally invests in R & D, a tool like VoiceThread would not be used in classrooms where he works. I'd encourage you to view the artwork and commentaries by the student artists at the Shanghai American School. I was impressed with how VoiceThread was used to display student artwork, but I was more impressed with the insights and maturity students exhibit in their comments. Well done art, students; thanks for the showing. I enjoyed hearing your comments and watching you illustrate on the artwork how your thinking developed the piece. A unique application of a collaborative tool that brought me closer to the humanity evident in your art work.

Innovation at Google ~ A Model for Schools?

Jeff goes on to relish the thought of Google employees who have time built into their day for R & D: "But what if we could get schools to buy into the idea that we are the R&D department. What if we had 20% time like Google employees? I checked out the benefits. Makes me realize how tough educators have it.

Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google

Lend a helping hand. With millions of visitors every month, Google has become an essential part of everyday life - like a good friend - connecting people with the information they need to live great lives.
Life is beautiful. Being a part of something that matters and working on products in which you can believe is remarkably fulfilling.
Appreciation is the best motivation, so we've created a fun and inspiring workspace you'll be glad to be a part of, including on-site doctor and dentist; massage and yoga; professional development opportunities; on-site day care; shoreline running trails; and plenty of snacks to get you through the day.
Work and play are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time.
We love our employees, and we want them to know it. Google offers a variety of benefits, including a choice of medical programs, company-matched 401(k), stock options, maternity and paternity leave, and much more.
Innovation is our bloodline. Even the best technology can be improved. We see endless opportunity to create even more relevant, more useful, and faster products for our users. Google is the technology leader in organizing the world’s information.
Good company everywhere you look. Googlers range from former neurosurgeons, CEOs, and U.S. puzzle champions to alligator wrestlers and former-Marines. No matter what their backgrounds Googlers make for interesting cube mates.
Uniting the world, one user at a time. People in every country and every language use our products. As such we think, act, and work globally - just our little contribution to making the world a better place.
Boldly go where no one has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring. You'll have the opportunity to develop innovative new products that millions of people will find useful.
There is such a thing as a free lunch after all. In fact we have them every day: healthy, yummy, and made with love.

Innovation?

Innovation seems to be the name of the game at Google. Do schools need to be innovative to prepare kids for their futures? How much innovation will their be in our future day-to-day lives.

My visit to Google catapulted me into a cell phone analogy. We all have cell phones. Many students have cell phones....but what if you could get the cell phone to do whatever you wanted it to do? Be innovative. Dream, discover, invent.

Watch these three videos and them leave a comment to the question: Is innovation a 21st Century skill we must teach in school?

Perhaps Jeff's idea that Technology Specialists should have time to innovate (the equivalent of 36 days a year - 20%) is not so outlandish. For Professional Learning Communities to thrive, we need to give professional teachers and administrators time to read, reflect, interact with other professionals, and innovate and apply in the classrooms to improve student learning. Short of that happening, teachers and administrators need to continue to be passionate about learning and find ways on their own to give learning a chance ~ over and over again. My online community helps me with the means and the methods to do my learning beyond the school day. I've been finding the time since 1970. I know I won't stop now.

1. If I had a magic phone....

Kids talk about what their dream phone would do. Learn more about the Open Handset Alliance's plans to build a better phone. What will your magic phone do?

2. Introducing Android

The creators of Android talk about their new open platform for mobile phones and the Open Handset Alliance.

3. Skypop on Android

Bruce Leak and Timo Bruck from SkyPop demo a couple of their new applications for Android.

Twitter Forum Blogpost Comments or Please Remember the Uninformed ~ We Need Your Friendship

2007-11-25T18:02:00.000-05:00

Hi Jen W,

If there was no Twitter, or Twitter faded away I wouldn't have read your post. But once again like so many times over the last few months, I turned on my computer and noticed a tweet:

"Darren Kuropatwa @JLWagner You started a good conversation. Lots of good thinking coming out of it. Congrats & keep it up! ;-)"

With that simple <140 style="font-weight: bold;">

Please Remember the Uninformed

I've read through the comments, and I'd like to add one important perspective that I don't find mentioned directly although it is alluded to a few times. I represent the uninformed. Until July 2007, I was familiar with Microsoft Office and knew little about the impact new applications were having on professional learning and k12 learning. I have told this story before, but I really was professionally transformed at the Building Learning Communities 2007 conference. Wow! I could see the features of a parallel universe but know little about it textures, shapes, and smells. I knew I wanted to learn more.

Twitter at First

Darren had mentioned Twitter in his workshop, but I didn't know that it could help me connect with new ideas and like minded people. Sheryl Nussbaum Beach and I had a Skype conversation and with the insights I gained, I was off learning and doing. I have learned about many new tools, blogs, people, places, schools, classrooms, ideas, through Twitter in less than three months. It took me to the K12 Online Conference and to an expanded Twitter network of people who seem to care passionately about children, learning, leadership, pedagogy and the proper place of technology in that universe. I believe without Twitter I would have remained uninformed for years maybe even never pursued the topic because I would have lacked the guidance, good will and humor of my Twitter network.

Friendships

Now about friends. I do have f2f friends that care deeply about k12 leadership and learning, but few understand the power of technology. The people I have met on Twitter have similar interests to me and they understand the potential power of technology for teaching and learning. Perhaps some will violate rules of etiquette. I am very concerned about offending people in this network because I can't continue learning without you. Here is how I blogged about newcomers needing online friends who are willing to reach out and offer friendship.

October 21st Post

"I need more friends and so do others looking to learn what we can from you so we can generate new knowledge as we interact. Follow me on twitter if you want to help me so I can follow you and watch you think about this world and reflect and contribute to the community conversation ~ that's the only way we can continue learning. All I can promise is to be your friend, do my part in this movement, and continue learning, modeling and trying to help students, educators and others with a stake in or authority over education in Massachusetts, the USA, and the world. www.twitter.com: dennisar" (See October 21, 2007 post below.)

Learning and Leading

Since July 2007 as a superintendent in Massachusetts and president of the Massachusetts affiliate of ASCD, I have been working diligently to learn about web 2.0 pedagogies. I have shared them with parents, students, teachers, teacher leaders, assistant superintendents, superintendents, my Board of Directors, and state political and appointed leaders for the Board of Education, the Governor's office and the Board of Higher Education. Twitter is one powerful tool I and others like me can use it to gain new knowledge. Without it or if people who are currently using it turn away for whatever reason, out power to transform education in every school in the world will be diminished. Without it I would not be presenting at EduCon 2.0 in January.

I hope this perspective has added value to the conversation about the importance of Twitter.

Maybe, someday, your friend,

Dennis

Multimedia learning environments - Mac versus PC? or I'll have the deep and rich new learning, please.

2007-10-28T06:59:00.000-04:00

This is a pivotal point in my life - ya know, the "two roads diverged in a wood" kinda thing.... Sixteen years ago I went from a Mac to a PC and never looked back. That is until I started learning about Web 2.0 and meeting people associated with this more multimedia oriented learning community.

My reflections on the pedagogy being used to engage students using digital tools has helped me appreciate implications of a new profile of student learners has for instruction. Aussie Judy O'Connell in her blog, Hey Jude: Fortunate Discoveries about Web 2.0 ..... does a fine job describing the learning characteristics of our students in an October 12, 2007 post she appropriately titled Digital kids - learning their own way.

multiprocessing;
multimedia literacy;
discovery-based learning;
bias towards action;
staying connected;
zero tolerance for delays;
consumer/creator blurring;
social networking.

Now you say what do these characteristics of our students-as-learners have to do with choosing a Mac or a PC? Let me continue that story.

Since switching to a PC, I have been tweaked by Mac users along the way; they are a loyal bunch! My daughter and son-in-law have always been Mac people because of their work in graphics and web design. My son and I have an interest in photography, and his use of a Mac for his pictures was always in contrast to my use of a PC for mine. When I asked Chris Betcher for his opinion of Macs, he did not want to influence my thinking unfairly, but he did admit that when working in a multimedia environment, he liked the Mac. John Pederson (alias ijohnpederson) is currently my scout leading the way into Apple's new operating system, Leopard. John, thank you for your helpful twits and posts on the subject. What do you think I learn from an educator who goes by iJohn?

The choice I need to made has gradually become clear to me. Given my commitment to K-12 leadership and learning, I can't accept the pedagogical orientation that refuses to adjust to the learning characteristics of the students we teach. When I add to that the realization that our culture, our economy, indeed, all facets of our way of life are headed in directions that parallel and most likely fostered the digitally oriented students who want to learn in their own way, the dilemma is clear. On one horn of the bull is a traditional orientation to student-as-learner which for me is associated with the more pragmatic oriented PC; on the other horn is the Mac. Granted, the PC world has arguably tried to keep pace with the shift that is occurring, but the Mac seems for me to have been associated with that shift for some time. Now, that perception may be nothing more that successful marketing associated with how the Mac has been branded, but I have arrived at my decision for another reason.

Learning for me is good. It stimulates my mind and keeps me feeling young and connected to the organic flow of life. I have found the most stimulating environment for my learning has been to embrace risk, to intentionally sever the orientation that provides me my current sense of security. For me, as I pursue a journey into "fortunate discoveries about Web 2.0," personally moving to a Mac just seems right. The disorientation and ambiguity I will feel as I make the transition will, at times, be frustrating in its own right, and I will reach out for "just in time" help that may or may not be available just in time, but isn't that how many of our students feel or experience the learning in our classrooms - some more often than others? Is there a better way for us to empathize with our students? Is there a better way for me to honestly position myself to need authentic student help? If you are bright, well-informed and successful educator, but can not embrace the disorientation and ambiguity associated with deep and rich new learning, how can you see yourself as a leading learner, someone who models for students what it takes to experience learning in significant ways? The dilemma is resolved....

Here I come Apple, don't let me down!

K12Online Educators Community Thank You or Claiming What We Imagine

2007-10-27T07:45:00.000-04:00

Stephanie Pace Marshall, at the end of her book The Power to Transform, pleads with us not to wait for others. She says "Courage is the capacity to claim what we imagine. If you are carrying this new story in your heart, now is the time to step forward. There is a place in the world for your unique voice, and it carries a message that must be heard. Start anywhere, but begin the conversation, and tell the new story that brings learning and schooling to life.” p. 210

Over the last three weeks the K12Online Educators Community has shown me what courage in the service of children looks like in practice. I have learned so much about you and from you that I am encouraged thinking that you may be my best hope for hearing what I have to say.

Are you ready to take the next step to transform learning opportunities for every child on this planet?

K12Online Community

I will always remember the Will Power to Youth students from Los Angeles, California and the words of Ben Donenberg, who said, at the ASCD International Conference last March 2007 in Anaheim, California, “What [children] need is to feel that we adults in power value them highly enough that we are willing to invest our wisdom in their potential.”

I will always remember Stephanie Pace Marshall for her generosity of spirit and the poetic vision of the new story of learning she narrates in her book, The Power to Transform.

I propose we commit to work toward a statement of Vision for our work. I offer some words to begin the conversation.

K12Online Educators Community Vision

Educators from across the planet come together during K12Online as the planet's whole-child learning community, a learning community of educational professionals. Each day we strive to kept our promise to ourselves to be significant in the learning lives of each child on this planet. We strive to fulfill this promise by infusing a generative, integral, balanced, inspirational new story of learning into every school and classroom and beyond, every place where children learn. This new learning landscape for educating children is our planet’s best hope for guaranteeing a future where every child goes to bed each night with recollections of feeling healthy, safe, and supported during intellectually challenging and personally engaging days of learning.

The Power to Transform

In her book, The Power to Transform, Stephanie Pace Marshall asks the … leaders of this planet “… to declare a new path, awaken to the songline that imperceptibly weaves through humanity and the natural world, and use its clarity and deep resonance to tell a new story and [create a] transformative landscape of generative learning and schooling.” p. 210

In some way what I am going to ask you will initially be perceived as a Declaration of Independence from our past, but like all learning of significance, it actually is an affirmation of the positive intent of our past motivations; educators always mean to do well by students; however, the profession now knows that to be faithful to our trust with humanity, we must commit to the transformational behavior necessary for shaping the a new generative, integral, balanced, inspirational learning landscape for educating whole children. If we do not commit, the downward spiral for too many children and schools will accelerate. If we do commit, some day each child will go to bed each night with recollections of a healthy, safe, challenging, engaging and supportive day. Like the Declaration of Independence that gave birth to America, there is no other way. This is the courageous choice that has been our songline for years; now it is ready to be born. ¹

Children-as-Learners

Knowing that our planet, at this point in its evolution, requires bold and visionary leadership and significant systemic change if as a civilization we are to secure life, liberty – and happiness for current and future generations,

I propose …

We commit to set in motion the mechanisms for writing and for eventually adopting a Children-as-Learners' Declaration of Independence from the past story of learning and schooling in favor of a new generative, integral, balanced, inspirational story of learning and schooling; and

We commit to set in motion the mechanisms for writing a Children-as-Learners' Constitution and a Children-as-Learners' Bill of Rights for a new generative, integral, balanced, inspirational story of learning and schooling; and

We commit to present for adoption draft Children-as-Learners' Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights at an Online Convention on a date certain on or before October 2010; and

We commit that once these statements are adopted, to set in motion the mechanisms for obtaining as signatories to the Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights, on or before October 2020, the myriad individuals, groups and associations; teachers and administrators; schools and school districts; and local, regional, national, and international government entities; and finally, that

All signatories commit to ensure that all professional statements of educational vision, mission, priorities, beliefs and goals, strategies, actions and measurement are aligned with the Children-as-Learners’ Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

^{1 Stephanie Pace Marshall, The Power to Transform}

San Diego County Fires

2007-10-23T18:08:00.000-04:00

San Diego County Fires
[ Last Updated 1:20 p.m. Oct 23 ]

Major wildfires are burning throughout San Diego County. We'll update this map as information comes in. Burn and evacuation areas are estimated. For more information visit www.kpbs.org.

Live radio stream: http://www.kpbs.org/kpbs64k.asx
Live updates via Twitter: www.twitter.com/kpbsnews
Email: webnews@kpbs.org

Yellow: Evacuation Areas
Red: Burn Areas

Amos & Boris ~ Storytime for Children

2007-10-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

With some help from AllanahK and Chris Betcher I was able to understand how VoiceThread works. But to really make it stick, I decided I needed to create my own.

Along the way I watched a VoiceThread on New Zealand money that Miss K's class produced and titled Money, Money, Money. In their own words, "Today we recorded our comments for our Voicethread about New Zealand's money. We used a resource from the Reserve Bank to find out more about our coins and notes." The students' work inspired me to use this tool in a very familiar way to say thank you to them.

Because I occasionally visit classes to read stories, I decide to use VoiceThread to read a story to Miss K's class in New Zealand.

Hope you enjoy it kids! Mr. Richards

PS When you start the story thread, you can use the magnifying glass to zoom in and out with a click and to move around the screen by moving the cursor left and right. You can also record an audio comment or a text comment by clicking on the appropriate button and clicking save when you are finished. Click the arrows to move to the next screen shot. The cluster of four small photos can be clicked to bring up a screen of all the pages. Click a page to go to it.

Drape's Takes: Our Fearless Leaders - Technologically Incompetent?

2007-10-22T07:32:00.000-04:00

Drape's Takes: Our Fearless Leaders - Technologically Incompetent?

Whether or not you know me, we need to be friends. Together we can improve schools. I know we can!

2007-10-21T22:18:00.000-04:00

I want to thank Karen Janowski for making me aware of a post on Darren Draper's blog Drape's Takes: Our Fearless Leaders - Technologically Incompetent? In the post Darren speaks of his trip to present at a conference.

... I had the privilege of presenting (thrice) with Margo Shirley and Kathy Ridd at the National Federation of Urban & Suburban School Districts conference. The small, annual conference attracts an elite crowd of superintendents, school board members, and other high-ranking district administrators from various school districts across the United States.

I am a superintendent in Massachusetts, and although I did not attend the NFUSSD conference, I have recently had many experiences that confirm Darren's experience. He goes onto say...

While presenting, I was struck (and rather severely) with the realization that many (certainly not all, but many) of the participants in the conference had extremely limited technology skills. Furthermore, this realization had even greater effect as I better understood to whom I was presenting: Remember, these participants were educational leaders (superintendents and the like) of school districts throughout the country. Indeed, I was literally awestruck as I was forced to throttle back my discussion (almost to the point of that famous right-clicking lesson), in order to help several of the participants to understand.

Last summer I was totally unaware of the extent of the paradigm shift that is going on in the world of Web 2.0 and so readily experienced through the stellar creativity, ingenuity, and drive of so many educators who have built the free and open online world at K12Onlineconference.org currently happening on the internet. I was not technologically illiterate. I had a laptop; I know how to use much of the typical Microsoft tools and used them when appropriate; I used Wikipedia; I had tried blogging and a wiki (a little). Then I met Alan November at a technology conference for superintendents. Alan's message had nothing to do with the sales pitches I heard over those two days. There was something new and unusually insightful about what he was saying.

Fortunately for me, Alan became interested in helping my school district with a project we were trying to do with the scientific institutions in Woods Hole, a village of Falmouth, Massachusetts, so, along the way, I began to learn about his Building Learning Communities (BLC) Conference he had each summer in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, it was scheduled for the same week as the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) executive conference in July 2007. Many superintendents and assistant superintendents go to the MASS conference each you and I was one of them. Summer 2007 I decided to go to BLC -- and am I glad I did. Publicly, I have said in many venues that it was a life changing experience for me, not because of the technology, but because of educators developing the incredible plethora of possibilities the new technological tools - and I mean something new is happening in this field daily it seems - have for pedagogy.

Here is a video that will give you a glimpse of the new story of learning; it is what I and 600 other educators experienced at the BLC 2007 conference. It introduces you to the educators who are in touch with the paradigm shift and using it to invigorate their classes, engaging students in powerful learning experiences through the application of technology tools. Notice the technology, but pay attention to the pedagogy threaded through the comments of these educational leaders. If you are in a school, I need to let you know that it is a link to a YouTube video so you will only be able to see it if YouTube.com is not blocked in your school. View it at home if that is a problem. It's worth the trouble.

November Learning's Building Communities Conference 2007

At the conference I attended Darren Kuropatwa's workshop Thinking About Innovation in Education or Learning the Guitar. I remember thinking to myself, well, that was interesting, but the more my mind tried to move onto the content of other workshop's that day I kept coming back to what Darren showed me about the technology tools, the pedagogy, and what and how his students were engaging in learning... and Darren's presentation modeled everything he was saying about Web 2.0. As the conference continued, I began to develop a context for appreciating the other presenters' workshops, but I could not stop thinking about what Darren Kuropatwa was saying and doing. So...I attended the other two workshops that Darren gave: New Tools, New Pedagogies: What Can I Do Now That I Couldn't Do Before? and New Tools, New Pedagogies: Developing Expert Voices. What an eye opening experience! He's a great teacher. To see these presentations, search for Darren Kuropatwa's work on SlideShare.net, a new tool that Darren told me about in the workshop so I could, as he said, take away what he was having us experience and go home and apply it in my schools.

I have not stopped thinking about that three day conference. In my opening presentation to the staff of the Falmouth MA Public Schools in August 2007 I took everything I learned during the conference and during my reflections on the experience and combined it with the ideas I was developing while reading Stephanie Pace Marshall's new book The Power to Transform, to create a presentation modeled after Darren's presentations. I called it The New Story of Learning or Thinking about Abundance, Creativity, Interdependence, and Wholeness.

Darren Drapers' blog post that prompted this post references The Partnership for 21st Century Skills' framework of 21st Century Skills. I have been speaking about that framework for two years; actually the current framework is actually a revised version. I summarize it in a post below.

I developed a wiki that I won from Darren that week and then I got involved in trying to publicize this world of Web 2.0 pedagogy through telling anyone who would listen about the K12 Online Conference: Massachusetts superintendents and assistant superintendents, ASCD Leadership Council representatives from the 50 states and many counties in the world, my own school district's Instructional Leadership, MASCD's Board of Directors, participants in the state STEM Summit IV, and a gathering of 200 educational leaders who were convened to discussed The Future of Education in Massachusetts by the Governor's Educational Adviser, the chairpersons of the Board of Higher Education, the state's boards of K-12 education and early childhood and the commissioner of education Chancellor of the Board of Higher Education. I spoke after the presentations and said I had no questions or comments because I generally agreed with the speakers views. Instead, I wanted to offer them a solution that could dramatically transform the experiences in classrooms throughout the state. I spoke about my experiences with Web 2.0 and told them I have a model through which they could experience what I was speaking about, K12onlinconference.org. I would like to be able to say that I had a positive response; they were polite, but only 5 people approached me during the break to say they appreciated my comments and planned to visit the site. You need to know that I was the only one who had a laptop out at that meeting (internet access only if you had a means other than your laptop to receive the password that would be sent to you to access the internet through your laptop) and that was generally the same at the Massachusetts STEM Summit IV (no internet access), and a New England Association of Schools and Colleges and The Center for Secondary School Redesign's Showcase of Model High School Programs Conference (internet access available if you asked and were given a sheet of directions that took a few minutes to implement). The comment, "Web 2.0? It's not on the radar screen!" comes to mind.

Thanks to the generous people associated with K12Online; I am slowly becoming familiar with their world. Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach was very kind to help me during a Skype session we scheduled because I had so many questions. "I need twitter friends," I told Sheryl. "How do I reach out into the "twitterverse" and make friends who can help me learn about this "parallel universe?" Sheryl helped me a great deal, but now a suggestion. I need more friends and so do others looking to learn what we can from you so we can generate new knowledge as we interact. Follow me on twitter if you want to help me so I can follow you and watch you think about this world and reflect and contribute to the community conversation ~ that's the only way we can continue learning. All I can promise is to be your friend, do my part in this movement, and continue learning, modeling and trying to help students, educators and others with a stake in or authority over education in Massachusetts, the USA, and the world.

www.twitter.com: dennisar.

K12 Online 2007: David Warlick's 24 Hour Chat Log Comments & Dennis Richards' Reflections

2007-10-14T20:55:00.000-04:00

K 12 Online Conference David Warlick Keynote Chat Transcript

Page 1

David Warlick:

Challenge is, how do I model for my children -- for my students. If we're preparing our children to be free-agent workers (and that's just a speculation), then perhaps we should help them to become free-agent learners.

DR: Powerful Learning Experiences?

I think this is the crux of the problem we face in schools today. Most educators were not taught to be free-agent learners so they don't know what we mean. Learning as we experience it in these interactive environments is exhilarating because it's inquiry driven, personally meaningful, open-ended, and intellectually stimulating. How many classrooms, schools and professional development experiences can be described with those words? We "hold administrators accountable;" "negotiate contractual articles" to define teacher common learning time; and lecture students, quiz them, test them and move to the next unit regardless of what they didn't learn so they are "well prepared" for high stakes test that decide if they will graduate or not. In the curriculum-frameworks-driven environment of schools today is they any room for "powerful learning experiences?"

Page 2

David Warlick:

He is my son, who learned to re-mix video by knowing how to find people who could help him learn what he needed to know to do what he wanted to do. This, in my opinion, is one of the most powerful messages of the video.

DR: Students and Web 2.0 Tools

Yes, David, but the message is hidden... Kids and even younger teachers are using many similar tools for personal reasons. If we can give permission and support to teachers and administrators to use these tools, they can begin to shift student use from the personal use of web 2.0 tools to its powerful use for learning. Imagine what educators and kids would experience if 30% of the time they were using these tools for learning? And as the percentage goes up for administrators, teachers and kids, we can use this new interactive environment to structure new boundaries around 21st Century Skills. That is when you will have the traction we need for students and educators to feel fulfilled in our schools.

Participant: (KS) I am in Higher Ed and the boundaries are prison fences it seems to me and most higher ed faculty are not ready to integrate tech into their content, talk about boundaries!!!

David Warlick:

This is so incredibly disheartening. What is it about a profession that is entirely about help people to grow, so reluctant to grow itself?

DR: Educator Supply Chain

Unfortunately, it is more challenging than just higher education. I am a member of a working group of professional educators, business representatives, and legislators in Massachusetts. We are working on legislation that world ensure systemic change reaches every classroom in the state.

The bad news is that we have a lot of work to do; the good news is that we have generated significant support around a common focus that seeks to improve the heart of education: teaching and learning.

The central issue is this: there is a common core of knowledge about teaching and learning, including interactive technology, for good professional practice that gets results for students. Large segments of this common core of knowledge are missing in action from each of the ten subsystems that form the supply chain for our teacher workforce. No one is accountable for seeing it even shows up in these sub-systems, much less in an integrated way. This is eminently fixable; but only if we redefine the problem and radically refocus our resources. (The same can be said for the knowledge and skills of school leadership.)

The ten sub-systems of the educator workforce supply chain are:

1. University Preparation Programs

2. State Licensing Requirements

3. School District Hiring Processes

4. School District Induction Programs

5. School District Supervision and Evaluation Systems

6. School District Professional Development Systems

7. State Recertification Requirements

8. School District Salary, Promotion and Advancement Policies

9. Individual School Working Conditions

10. Individual School Organization Culture

Participant: (Th) Bangkok is asking How do you infuse the concept of "learning how to learn" into a k12 curriculum

David Warlick:

Step 1: Model it. Rather than using textbook and other "packaged" content, use sources from the Internet that you (teacher) have found, evaluated, mixed and re-mixed, and then explain to your students, while you are teaching them, how you found it, how you decided to use it, how you combined it with other content, etc.

Step 2: Expect it of your students. Assign aspects of the unit to be learned independently by your students. Have them work in teams or whatever. Then, as they share what they have learned, ask them, "How did you find that?" "Why did you decide to use this source?" "How did you make it look like this?"

DR: "Chief" Learner

Interesting how this advice applies to administrators and teachers also.

I am a superintendent responsible for a school district with 4000 students. In my opening address to the staff, I modeled what I had learned at the November Learning Building Learning Communities Conference 2007 from Darren Kuropatwa . Over the next few weeks I will meet with the faculty at each of the seven schools in the district. I will be showing them what I have learned since then as I interacted with many educators on Twitter and through K12Online 2007. These people are friendly and willing to help those of us who are new to these Web 2.0 tools.

If you are the "chief" learner, I think you need to make your learning transparent and available to your colleagues. It wasn't easy for me to make that leap, but this is what I believe so I have decided to walk the talk!

In the end it has been lots of fun.... and rewarding too.

I ran out of time to offer more comments. I hope to continue over the next week or two.

Animoto: Video Production on Demand

2007-10-14T11:51:00.000-04:00

So you are sitting at your computer and you have 30 minutes to produce a one minute video for some reason. Your have the pictures loaded in your computer and you're wondering who can help you... Animoto! Bill Johnsen twittered a comment about a video he had just finished. I checked it out and decided it was time to try to test the site. I had my pictures from a local garden I visit. I signed in and decided to do a short video (30 seconds). I loaded the pictures I wanted to use, and was notified by Animoto there were too many for a short video. Do I pay the $3 they charge or just let them cut the pictures so I can get off free? I decided to pay the $3 - I could have paid $30 for a year of access. Music was included along the way although I could have come up with my own track if I had it loaded - maybe next time. And wha-la! My first one minute video, Butterfly, is here. 30 minutes from Bill's twitter to the finished video. Some of the representations of the pictures have lines in them (not in the originals), but not bad. A great tool for kids (using the 30 second video option) or teachers who want a quick, easy way to introduce a subject, lesson, unit. I did download the video to the RealPlayer so I would have it. FYI, for some reason the video is not showing up in my account - have to check on that. Enjoy.... Butterfly

New Territories for Learning in the 21st Century

2007-10-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

David Warlick used a videocast to give the world an interesting pre conference address, Inventing the New Boundaries, to open the second annual K12Online 2007 Conference. In it he speaks about teachers and students wanting and needing new boundaries to define their work. David, try these ideas for new boundaries that teachers and students could use to define the border territories of learning in our classrooms and schools.

Grappling for solutions to problems of societal importance (local, regional, national, international)
Creating content to share with a global audience
Inventing, supporting, and contributing to learning communities (local, regional, national, international)
Using core knowledge as a critical resource
Discovering interdisciplinary connections and interrelationships
Etc. (See below)

Watch the Encyclopedia of Life Video and you'll experience the future within which our students will live and learn:

EOL ~ Encyclopedia of Life

David, as you well know, it's not 1961 and your Grolier's Encyclopedia is no more!

To really prepare our students for the learning communities that await them, I proposed to our district the following elements for a Framework for Learning, a new policy of learning for our school district based on the assumption that what students need to learn must be the way we teach them....

From Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Global Awareness

Using 21st century skills to understand and address global issues
Learning from and working collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, religions and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue in personal, work and community contexts
Understanding other nations and cultures, including the use of non-English languages

Creativity and Innovation

Demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work
Developing, implementing and communicating new ideas to others
Being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives
Acting on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the domain in which the innovation occurs

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Exercising sound reasoning in understanding
Making complex choices and decisions
Understanding the interconnections among systems
Identifying and asking significant questions that clarify various points of view and lead to better solutions
Framing, analyzing and synthesizing information in order to solve problems and answer questions

Communication and Collaboration

Articulating thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively through speaking and writing
Demonstrating ability to work effectively with diverse teams
Exercising flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal
Assuming shared responsibility for collaborative work

Information Literacy

Accessing information efficiently and effectively, evaluating information critically and competently and using information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand
Possessing a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information

Media Literacy

Understanding how media messages are constructed, for what purposes and using which tools, characteristics and conventions.
Examining how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors.
Possessing a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information

Life and Career Skills

Flexibility & Adaptability
Initiative & Self-Direction
Social & Cross-Cultural Skills
Productivity & Accountability
Leadership & Responsibility

Financial and Economic Literacy

Knowing how to make appropriate personal economic choices
Understanding the role of the economy in society
Using entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace productivity and career options

Civic Literacy

Participating effectively in civic life through knowing how to stay informed and understanding governmental processes
Exercising the rights and obligations of citizenship at local, state, national and global levels
Understanding the local and global implications of civic decisions

Health Literacy

Obtaining, interpreting and understanding basic health information and services and using such information and services in ways that are health enhancing
Understanding preventive physical and mental health measures, including proper diet, nutrition, exercise, risk avoidance and stress reduction
Using available information to make appropriate health-related decisions
Establishing and monitoring personal and family health goals
Understanding national and international public health and safety issues

Core Knowledge

English, reading or language arts
World languages
Arts
Mathematics
Economics
Science
Geography
History
Government and Civics

Investing Our Wisdom in Their Potential~Introduction

2007-10-04T14:09:00.000-04:00

The post below is a cover article I wrote for the current issue of the Massachusetts ASCD affiliate's journal, Perspectives. I'd be interested in your thoughts on my point of view. This is a critical time in education in Massachusetts. This year Governor Patrick is developing a ten year strategic plan for our schools. Can you help us define priorities in one or more of the thirteen areas he has identified for reform? Go to mascdrp.wikispaces.com if you want to help us identify priorities for education in Massachusetts.

Investing Our Wisdom in Their Potential

2007-10-04T13:41:00.000-04:00

Teacher Preparation and the New Story of Learning

Grandchildren

Personally, this is an important time in my grandchildren’s educational lives. My oldest grandson enters high school this fall. Two other grandchildren enter kindergarten and preschool. My youngest grandchild began to crawl last week. Four years ago MASCD joined a coalition to improve instruction in every classroom throughout the state by improving educator quality.¹ If the legislation we propose for improving educator quality had passed, children like my grandchildren would be benefiting from the improvements in schools now. For some reason we haven’t been able to convey the urgency of our plea.

A professional knowledge base exists for education.
We must ensure that all ten personnel processes that determine educator quality, including teacher preparation, are rooted in the professional knowledge base.
The promise of excellent classrooms lies in significantly improving the quality of teachers and administrators.
The promise lies in what teachers do instructionally, by design, each day to educate “whole” children.
Together we can transform our classrooms, schools and communities so they all are significant learning environments for our children and grandchildren.

The National Governors’ Association reported that for every 100 students entering 9^th grade, 82 will not complete a bachelor’s degree within six years or an Associate’s Degree within three years.² Which of our children and grandchildren will they be? What will society be like with a citizenship that lacks the intellectual stamina to write our literature, paint out masterpieces, compose our symphonies, and invent creative solutions to our pressing environmental and human problems? The list of opportunities and challenges is endless; we need to develop the talent of every child to his/her highest potential for a better future.

Can we envision?

Can we envision schools where all teachers teach our students through powerful learning experiences ~ all of the time? Can we envision a state that defines proficiency in terms of students creating, innovating, collaborating, thinking critically, solving problems, leading, and being personally and socially responsible?

Currently we have some classrooms and schools where teachers design instruction so students develop these new proficiencies. Teachers who impress their communities with their ability to teach in powerful ways are sometimes selected as Teacher of the Year and we feature their accomplishments as models for other teachers to emulate. There are many teachers who deserve to be so recognized. Parents want to ensure that their children get those teachers. Often parents are willing to spend lots of influence to get the best teacher for their sons and daughters. They advocate in whatever way they can within the system.

If the system does not respond to their influence, some parents are willing to spend their money to ensure their children have those experiences. They move into communities that have a reputation for “good” schools. When parents conclude that only a private school can offer their child those experiences, they work hard to ensure that their children are accepted to those schools. However, what happens to the students whose parents do not have influence or the money to secure powerful learning experiences for their children? Does that condition explain why 82 out of 100 high school freshmen never receive a college degree?

Wisdom in Anaheim

At the ASCD International Conference in March 2007, Ben Donenberg, Shakespeare Festival/LA Producing Artistic Director, interviewed young people from South Central Los Angeles to find out what they needed from him. “What they need is to feel that we adults in power value them highly enough that we are willing to invest our wisdom in their potential.” Mr. Donenberg and others invested in the youth of South Central LA through an innovative Shakespeare performance program, Will Power to Youth. I bear witness to the outstanding quality of their collective achievement. At the conference second general session on Sunday, March 19, 2007, thousands of educators were moved to tears by the quality of their performance. Well done, student leaders from Will Power to Youth and Mr. Donenberg for Shakespeare Festival LA!

Stephanie Pace Marshall,³ at the same conference, offered us a glimpse of her wisdom, when she spoke of the need to transform schools and learning so students experience a different story of learning, the under story that our actions teach students as young as third grade, if not younger. Here are four of eight characteristics of the “new story of learning” that Ms. Marshall believes students must hear over and over again throughout their sixteen or seventeen years of schooling if they are to believe this story of truths and act in harmony with it.

· Intelligence is not a single number. It is not fixed at your birth.… Creating your own mind is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the world.

· Learning is a social activity. … You will learn more deeply and you will have more fun if you learn with others. Learning flourishes in relationships.

· Understanding big ideas, pursuing questions that matter to you and your community and the world and solving meaningful problems are what real learning is about.

· You are a unique learner. ... Make mistakes, take risks, explore, fail, and ask for help. They are all part of learning. … You have a unique song that no one else in the world can ever sing, and if you don’t sing it, it will never be heard. ⁴

Mr. Donenberg and Ms. Marshall (Read The Power to Transform) offer much more than I can capture here. Their insights provide a new framework for teacher preparation programs that will graduate teachers who will be ready to transform schools and learning. We can have a significant positive effect on the lives of all children if we can prepare teachers, and administrators, to ensure challenging and engaging experiences for them and find ways in our communities to keep children safe, healthy and supported as ASCD and MASCD advocate in our Whole Child Initiative, www.wholechildeducation.org.

Whole Child Initiative

Above I mentioned the need for teachers to learn how to design their instruction to educate “whole” children. We need our system of educator preparation to ensure that new teachers, and administrators, understand and can demonstrate how to create those types of classrooms and schools. Stephanie Pace Marshall also said in Anaheim that students are born whole and that “…both our experience and our research support the belief that all students will achieve at significantly higher levels of disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding … if learning experiences are intentionally designed to enable them to do so.”⁵ If “a whole child is intellectually active; physically, verbally, socially, and academically competent; empathetic, kind, caring, and fair; creative and curious; disciplined, self-directed, and goal oriented; free; a critical thinker; confident; cared for and valued,”⁶ then teachers must be taught how to design all classroom and school activities so children learn in ways that allow them to remain whole.

Readiness Project

This issue of Perspectives comes at a pivotal time in Massachusetts educational history. Governor Deval Patrick has launched his Readiness Project with these words: “Heralding the Commonwealth’s moral and statutory obligation to assure every child access to a world class education to reach his or her full potential, Governor Deval Patrick today named the council that will develop a 10-year strategic plan to continuously improve public education.”⁷ The Leadership Council will form thirteen subcommittees that will develop priorities for the state’s ten year educational strategic plan. If you were not an educator in the early 1990s when the education reform legislation was formulated and implemented, now is the time to be attentive to the Readiness Project progress so you can influence its outcome with your voice. MASCD will represent you well, but the Governor and your State Representatives and Senators must hear from you. We need you to be an Educator Advocate.⁸ Education in Massachusetts will be influenced for the next fifteen years by this strategic plan.

Footnotes

1. See Perspectives, Spring 2007.

2. Ready for Tomorrow: Helping All Students Achieve Secondary and Post Secondary Success, National Governors’ Association, 2003.

3. Founding President of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) is an internationally-recognized pioneering educational institution created in 1985 by the State of Illinois to develop talent and leadership in mathematics, science and technology teaching and learning. Stephanie Pace Marshall is also the author of The Power to Transform, an insightful new book on the new story of learning that students need to hear throughout their sixteen years in our schools.

4. The “New Story and Landscape of Learning and Schooling,” ASCD Annual Conference, March 19, 2007, Anaheim, CA.

5. http://www.stephaniepacemarshall.com/articles/SPM-Article2.pdf .

6. The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action, A Report of the Commission on the Whole Child, ASCD, 2007.

7. Governor Deval Patrick, Executive Office Press Release, August 6, 2007.

8. Go to www.mascd.org and click on “Become an Educator Advocate.”

Attach File?

2007-10-04T13:33:00.000-04:00

Can someone tell me how I attach a file to my blog? No problem doing it on my pbwiki.

Web 2.0 Birthday ~ BLC July 2007

2007-10-04T12:33:00.000-04:00

November Learning ~ Building Learning Communities 2007

I am new to blogging, but I'm willing to learn. In fact, learning for me and the adults and students I work with is at the heart of what we do each day. Our school system's mission, for example, is

... to educate students so they are engaged in their education in a way which develops their capacity to pursue their goals and fosters life-long learning.

Our core beliefs are enthusiasm, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach was kind enough to spend a long time with me yesterday on Skype answering my questions about web 2.0 and filling me in on her incredibly exciting work with schools in Alabama. Thank you to Sheryl for leading the way.

In my simple minded way, among other things, I learned that a blog is not a wiki. That is obvious to most of you reading this, but it was a useful insight for me. I won a wiki, a pbwiki, at a BLC07 workshop offered by Darren Kuropatwa and thanks to the generosity of the folks at PBwiki.com. I titled it www.innovation3.pbwiki.com and jumped in feet first to use it and learn it along the way. Three months later, I have posted to it a respectable number of times and I am using it it as a vehicle in my work. Very helpful, I would say. The problem for me is community is lacking at the site. I post, people may read, people go on their wiki way. Now what?

I need a blog to share my personality and point of view. As I understand it (you can help me with this),

a blog is a place visible on the internet where I can share a point of view on the world and invite people to comment;
A wiki is a platform for collaborative work.

So now I have www.innovation3.blogspot.com!

I posted an excerpt from a poetry site I visit from time to time sponsored by the Poetry Foundation.

I'd appreciate hearing from you about these comments, the excerpt or other thoughts I post in the future or themes related to the posts.

"Be well, do good work, and keep in touch." GK

He sang the brightness of mornings and green rivers...

2007-10-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

Dangerous Considerations: A Notebook

by Adam Zagajewski

From http://www.poetrymagazine.org/magazine/1007/comment_180080.html

Excerpt

I'm reading Milosz's Last Poems, published by Znak two years after their author's death. Milosz's foes — and there's no dearth of them in this polemical, sometimes petty nation, where his towering stature guarantees that he won't be spared the resentment of greatness that typifies democracies — claim that his poetic power waned near the end. You only need to read a few lines of his “Orpheus and Eurydice” to be convinced of his critics' error:

He sang the brightness of mornings and green rivers,
He sang of smoking water in the rose-colored daybreaks,
Of colors: cinnabar, carmine, burnt sienna, blue,
Of the delight of swimming in the sea under marble cliffs,
......................................................................
Of his having composed his words always against death
And of having made no rhyme in praise of nothingness.

Milosz's Polish opponents may be grouped into several types. There are those who have no interest in poetry but charge the author of The Captive Mind with treason, since he served in the Communist diplomatic corps for several years. (But he didn't praise nothingness. He never wrote a single poem fit for inclusion in an anthology of Stalinist poetry.) Others can't tolerate his aversion towards Polish nationalism. (This aversion is, I should add, completely justified.) Just before his funeral some accused him of being a bad Catholic — and thus not worthy of sharing a crypt with various Polish national  luminaries. Those who do read his poetry sometimes attack its lofty, hymnic tone. These days one should write only flat, ironic poems and wait for better times.

When I read the line “Of the delight of swimming in the sea under marble cliffs,” I'm reminded of a conversation with Milosz I had a few years ago. M. and I were vacationing then with Milosz near Lucca, in Tuscany, along with C.K. Williams. Once we set out for the beach at Bocca di Magra, a little town in Liguria (from the highway you see an ad for the hotel “Shelley”: the poet drowned nearby). The Magra is a river that reaches the sea at this point. Milosz heard this and began reminiscing. He'd vacationed in Bocca a couple of times with Mary McCarthy, Nicola Chiaromonte, and other friends — he'd also gone swimming there and always remembered the white marble cliffs that might be mistaken at first for snowy mountainsides. But it's marble, not snow; Carrara, a town famed among sculptors, sits at the foot of the white marble mountains. And the sea is deep blue, warm, salty, with little waves. Lines and irregular geometric forms take shape briefly on the water's velvety surface and then vanish — the ocean's papillaries. Gulls circle over fishing boats. The shoreline is steep, as it should be above the Mediterranean, since flat, sandy beaches plastered with the huge towels of sunburnt German tourists don't match the sea's nature, but turn it into the pale, chilly Baltic, and it loses its deep cobalt hue.

Milosz died thinking, working, writing poems right up to the very end — as if he had swum far out to sea, toward Carrara, toward sky-blue mists and white mountains.